Naruto: The Sealed
by EleosLeonhart
Summary: Naruto is frozen in time, causing Konoha to believe that he was either kidnapped or that he ran away. Years later, he is unsealed from this time freeze. What awaits Naruto is a completely new adventure. Will Naruto have what it takes to become a legend?
1. Frozen

**Naruto: The Sealed**

By: EleosLeonhart

Chapter 1: Frozen

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto, but I do own the ideas I add in!

**Authors's Note: **A large amount of this chapter is the beginning of Naruto, as many readers will see. BUT DO NOT FEAR COMRADES! Keep on reading, and you will find the plot twist! WEEEE!

Enjoy!

**PROLOGUE**

"_A long time ago, a demon fox with nine tails appeared. When a tail was swung, it would destroy a mountain and cause a tsunami. To counter it, the people gathered ninjas. One ninja sealed the monster in a life or death battle and died. That ninja was known as the Fourth Hokage... and with his death, he sealed the powers of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox into the body of a young boy..."_

**Twelve Years After the Kyuubi's Attack**

It was night, perhaps three in the morning, and the moon and stars were out, brilliantly shining down on the forest. The forest was that of one in Fire Country, approximately 55 kilometers away from Konoha, the mighty village of ninjas.

In this very forest, a man with a cloak was traveling toward the village at a moderately slow speed. At the rate he was walking, it would take three or four days to reach the village if he were a normal man. His cloak was black, which would blend well in a starless night. The clothing piece covered his black pants, extending all the way down to the top of his boots, which covered nearly half of his shins. He wasn't very old, perhaps thirty years old, but he had silver hair, much like the famous nin from Konoha, Copy Cat Kakashi. His eyes, however, were different in comparison to most persons'. They were a gold color and had a light shine to them.

The man was accompanied with what seemed to be a white-furred wolf. It too, like the man it accompanied, had yellowish-gold eyes.

"Gin…I smell danger." Spoke the wolf to the man. Gin began to sniff the air.

"I don't smell anything," he said in a humored voice. The wolf growled at the man taking his advice so light-heartedly.

"I'm being serious. We must hurry to Konoha." Gin looked at his partner, as his eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"What do you sense, Fuyu?" Fuyu gave the man a deadpanned expression.

"What makes you think I know, dumbass!" the wolf growled. Gin just sighed at the wolf's attitude, shaking his head with a complacent expression.

"Then let's get moving!" he replied, using chakra to give himself a boost of speed as he took off running.

And with that, the two surged toward Konoha.

**Konoha**

The sun would be rising soon. Most of the Konoha population was either asleep or getting ready for the day. However, there were a select few who were up this early. And one of those few was a young boy who had the bright idea to paint the Hokage Monument and add artistic flavor to each face. The monument was established in commemoration of the Hokages, past and present. There are currently four faces carved in the monument, but the boy now painting their faces was determined that someday…

"I will become Hokage! And I will surpass all of you so that everyone will recognize me!" the boy almost yelled. He jumped onto the Sandaime's statue's nose and, taking a large paintbrush doused in black paint, and painted the face a pair of sunglasses. The boy's name…Uzumaki…

"NARRRUUUUTOOOOOO!" yelled a few older ninjas. Taking the cue, Naruto took off, climbing down the monument and running away from his pursuers.

The Sandaime looked outside his office window and chuckled. Taking out his pipe, he muttered, "At it again, are we, Naruto?" Chuckling again, he put the pipe back in his mouth and continued with what all Kages hated most: Paperwork.

Naruto could hardly wait. Today was the day that he would graduate from the academy. He had both the determination and the hard work needed to graduate.

He had just returned to the streets from the Hokage's office after a good scolding from jounin ninjas. The Hokage, during Naruto's small trial, just chuckled while taking a few good puffs at his pipe.

As Naruto continued down the streets, he saw a very familiar and attractive pink-haired head, namely, Haruno Sakura. "SAKURA-CHAAAN!" yelled the blonde as he raced toward the girl with hearts in his eyes. As Sakura turned around, she thought the exact opposite as Naruto.

"Get away from me Naruto!" she yelled in disgust. "You're so annoying!" He refused to give up.

"But Sakura-chan, today I'll show you! I'm going to become a real ninja. I will graduate from the academy and become Hokage!" Sakura gave him a deadpanned expression.

"You, Hokage? Don't make me laugh!" she spat at him. "Now…if it were someone like MY Sasuke, then HE could do it! But you? You're just the dead last!" As Naruto heard this insult, his heart sank and his posture slouched in depression, but Sakura didn't care; she continued on her way toward the academy.

After a good helping to Naruto's favorite food, ramen, Naruto headed over to the academy. He ate less than usual on account of Sakura's treatment toward him. Instead of eating his usual eleven of so bowls of ramen, he only had eight this morning! Teuchi, the ramen shop owner, knew Naruto well, seeing as how the boy came to the shop nearly every day, usually more than once in the shop's open time! "The bill's on me." said the old man with a smile on his face. "Train hard Naruto!" Hearing these encouraging words helped cheer the blonde up as he made his way to the academy.

Nearly fifteen minutes later, he found himself in the academy room where he had learned all sorts of things from Iruka-sensei, his main academy teacher. As he walked in, he saw the usual: A bored Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji eating his bag of chips, and a dozen fan girls swarming all over Uchicha Sasuke, including Sakura. Naruto rolled his eyes at the site. Why was it that the Uchiha always got the attention from Sakura, as well as all the girls for that matter? Naruto decided to ignore it, taking his seat, awaiting the exams to become a true ninja. He could hardly wait.

It hadn't been fifteen minutes, when Iruka entered the room. "Good morning everyone!" began Iruka. "Today is our graduation exam! Now, to graduate, you will perform the Bunshin no Jutsu. When you are called, come to the next room." As Naruto heard this, he felt a hole growing in his stomach.

"That one!? That's my worst skill!" he thought to himself. However, he wasn't ready to throw in the towel. "I'll do it!" he decided. When it was his turn, he was called into the next room. "Watch this! Bunshin no Jutsu!" he yelled, forming the hand signs needed for the technique. When the dust settled, Naruto had successfully made one clone of himself…however...there was a slight problem. The bunshin was lying on the ground and completely useless! As Iruka looked at Naruto with deadpanned eyes and sweat rolling down the side of his head, he could only utter one word…

"FAIL!"

Mizuki, however, spoke up. "Iruka-sensei, let him pass. He did _technically _create a clone. And this is his third time taking the exam."

"No, I can't let him pass," retorted Iruka. "Naruto created one useless clone, whereas all the other students created three useful clones." And with that, Uzumaki Naruto failed the graduation exam.

Naruto was up on a ledge on one of Konoha's buildings, where Mizuki found him. "You know Naruto…Iruka-sensei is a serious person.. His parents were killed when he was young and he had to do everything by himself."

"By why does he only pick on me!?" questioned the young boy.

"He probably sees himself in you. He probably wants you to be as strong as you can be. Try to understand his feelings…since you also have no parents." At this, Naruto began to feel as he could relate to Iruka.

"I know…I just wanted to graduate so badly."

"Well then…I'll tell you a little secret" Mizuki said to the now perky-eared Naruto.

"Huh?"

Mizuki smirked. "If you take the Forbidden Scroll from the Hokage tower, Iruka will realize your strength and pass you. But you must do this late at night…and you must not be caught by anyone, including the Hokage…if you do this, Iruka-sensei will see that you have what it takes to be a ninja!"

"Really!?" said Naruto excitedly. Mizumi smiled in response. Naruto gave Mizuki a big foxy grin. "Thank you Mizumi-sensei!"

"Bring it in the outskirts of town in this location." Mizuki pointed to a map. "Go to the forest, not too far away from the cabins. Good luck Naruto!"

It was now about one in the morning. Naruto was able to get away from the Hokage, compliments to his original "Oiroke no Jutsu" (Sexy no Jutsu), where he takes the appearance of a nude blonde young woman. And with that, he knocked the Hokage, the most powerful ninja of the village, out completely, blood spurting from his nose at the pleasure of such a fine site. Naruto laughed, calling the Hokage a "perverted oji-san!" He then escaped the Hokage Tower, taking the Forbidden Scroll with him. Running through the streets of Konoha so late helped him stay hidden from any possible pursuers. It wasn't until another ten minutes later that he found himself in the forest, opening the Forbidden Scroll. "Kage….Bunshin….BUNSHIN!? Aw, craaap…." he muttered as he looked at the first jutsu in the scroll. "I might as well try to learn it…" he said to himself, practicing the jutsu for the next five hours.

It didn't take long for the Hokage to summon various ninjas of the village to find Naruto, that is, after the Hokage awoke just before sunrise.

"Hokage-sama! How did that demon brat even steal the scroll from you!" asked one of the ninja there.

The Hokage cleared his throat.

"Well, I was preoccupied…but let's not worry about how it happened. Let's focus on looking for Naruto and the scroll," he said quickly, trying to escape telling the ninjas there what really happened.

Iruka, after being told that Naruto had stolen the scroll by the Hokage just a mere half an hour ago, was now looking eagerly for the blonde boy. _Naruto…where are you…? _As Iruka kept on thinking to himself, he felt a very familiar chakra signature close by. Picking up on the trail, Iruka made his way to a small clearing, where he found the boy with the forbidden scroll, lying on the ground. Naruto looked beaten up, so Iruka couldn't help but be curious. Iruka leaned over, obviously tired from looking for Naruto.

"Narruuutooo….I've….FOUND YOU!"

"Heheh…You found me, but I've only learned one skill!" said the boy with a big grin on his face.

"Hey, Naruto….what have you been doing? You look all beaten up."

"Nevermind that!" the blonde cut him off. "I'm going to try an incredible skill! If I do it, let me graduate!"

"_He was practicing here…enough to damage his body?" _Iruka couldn't help think, slightly surprised at Naruto's hard work.

"Naruto, where did you get that scroll on your back?" questioned the Chuunin sensei.

"Mizuki-sensei told me about it, and about this place too! He said if I showed you this skill, I'D DEFINITELY GRADUATE!"

"_Mizuki!?!?" _thought Iruka. Before he could completely gather his thoughts, his ninja senses told him that there were kunai coming toward the two of them. "NARUTO! WATCH OUT!" exclaimed Iruka as he pushed the smaller boy out of the weapon's projected path, causing Naruto to fall out of harm's way. As the kunai came toward Iruka, he was pierced in the legs, arms, and lower stomach. The impact of the multiple kunai caused Iruka to be thrown against a tree. Thankfully, the light armor and padding that came with his Chuunin apparel helped guard himself from any life-threatening piercings. "I see…so….that's what's going on…." Muttered Iruka, blood dripping out of his mouth.

"NARUTO! QUICKLY! GIVE ME THE SCROLL!" yelled Mizuki.

"NO NARUTO! DON'T GIVE HIM THE SCROLL….EVEN IF YOU DIE!" yelled Iruka with equal loudness. All Naruto could do was panic. He didn't know what was going on. As he sat there on the ground, looking between two of his sensei, all the 12-year old could comprehend was that there was trouble going on.

"Naruto…" said a now smirking Mizuki. "There's no point in you having that scroll. I'll tell you the truth…"

"MIZUKI DON'T!" said an almost screaming Iruka.

"Twelve years ago…" continued Mizuki. "You know about the demon fox being sealed, right?" He paused for a moment. "Since that incident, a new rule was created for this village…"

"A rule?" questioned Naruto, still fearful of the situation, but taken in by curiosity.

"Yes, a rule. But Naruto, this rule was never meant to be told to you…" said Mizuki, his smirk growing ever wider.

"Not to me? What is this rule!? Why!?"

"_Heheheheh"…._Mizuki's sinister plan…he felt as though he were going to succeed…the boy growing tenser. He knew Naruto would break.

"What….kind of…rule is it?" asked a scared Naruto.

"The rule that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact that YOU are the demon fox!" Naruto's eyes widened as he forcefully fell back from his sitting position.

"Wh-what do you mean!?" Iruka's pleas fell on deaf ears as Mizuki continued.

"It means that you, Naruto, are the nine-tailed fox demon…it means that you are the one that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village. You were sealed up by the Hokage you admire and you have been lied to by EVERYONE!" Naruto's tears began to flow as the loneliness he had felt his entire life only began to grow. "Didn't you find it odd how everyone hated you?" continued the traitorous ninja. "Iruka is the same! He actually hates you!" As Mizuki said this, he took out his large windmill shuriken, getting ready to fire it at the boy. "Nobody will ever accept you!! That scroll was used to seal you up!" he yelled at the boy as he threw the large weapon toward the boy. Upon contact, blood was drawn, but the blood didn't belong to Naruto. As the boy looked up, he saw a crying Iruka, the large weapon embedded in his back as he hovered over Naruto, protecting the boy.

"Iruka-sensei…Why?" asked a surprised Naruto.

"Because….I'm like you, Naruto," said Iruka. "My parents died when I was young. There was nobody to compliment me or acknowledge me after they died….so I did all that I could to get people's attention. I would always act like an idiot. I wasn't good at school, so that was the only way I could get attention. It was better than having nothing at all. It was so very painful…" Iruka opened his eyes, tears flowing down on to Naruto's face. "Naruto, you must have been in a lot of pain too! I'm sorry Naruto…if I had done my job right, then you wouldn't have had to feel this way…."

Naruto didn't know how to react. All he could do was The boy took off sprinting away from Iruka and Mizuki. Mizuki took after Naruto. After traveling through the trees of the forestry area, Mizuki had the idea to Henge into Iruka to fool the boy. As he continued, he spotted Naruto.

"NARUTO! HURRY! PASS ME THE SCROLL! MIZUKI IS AFTER IT!" exclaimed Mizuki in disguise. In response, Naruto tackled Mizuki to the ground. "Why…Naruto?" asked Mizuki as he reverted back to his usual form. "How did you know I wasn't Iruka?" demanded the man.

"Because I'm Iruka!" said the boy as reverted to his true form, Iruka.

"I see…" smirked Mizuki. "I've changed my mind. I think I'll finish you off now Iruka…" The chuckled darkly. "Naruto and I are the same Iruka…"

"What do you mean?" asked Iruka.

"If you use the skills in that scroll, you can do whatever you want…there is no way that the demon fox boy wouldn't to try to use the power, unlike what you're assuming…"

"Yeah, you're right…" said Iruka in response. Unbeknownst to the two Chuunin ninjas, Naruto was close by, hiding behind a tree and listening to the conversation.

"_I knew it! See…even Iruka…deep down…he doesn't acknowledge me,"_ thought the boy sorrowfully, but then…

"The demon fox would do that...but Naruto is different. He is...I've acknowledged him as...one of my most excellent students." Naruto was shocked by what he was hearing. Did Iruka really mean that? Iruka continued…"He may not be the hardest worker…and he's clumsy at times., so nobody accepts him. However, he knows what it's like to feel pain in your heart…he isn't the demon fox anymore! He is a member of our village! He is….he's Uzumaki Naruto!" Tears streamed down Naruto's face as someone had finally acknowledged him.

"Whatever Iruka…" said Mizuki. "It's time that you faced the music. HURRY UP AND DIE!" exclaimed the man as he took out another windmill shuriken.

"_So this is it…"_ thought a sad Iruka. As Mizuki began to throw the large weapon, he was interrupted by a knee to the face.

Mizuki, now angry, spoke, "You should NOT have done that…."

"Don't touch Iruka-sensei….I'LL KILL YOU!!" Mizuki chuckled darkly at these words.

"YOU!? Kill me!? HAH! Go ahead and try you demon fox! I'll kill you in one shot!" And with that, Naruto made a cross-shape symbol, one that Iruka recognized. He wasn't the only one that recognized this handseal. There were two others from the shadows who were watching with keen interest. Their gold eyes viewing the scene through the bushes.

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" screamed the young blonde. Mizuki's eyes widened in both shock and fear.

"Wh-what the hell!?" he yelled through his teeth. And with that, retribution began.

"Fuyu…." Said a man from the bushes. "That's the older of the Kyuubi, the nine-tailed demon fox, right?"

The wolf nodded its head. "He's strong for a kid….but I'm worried. That group we were researching….eh…what's their name…"

"Akatsuki" grumbled the wolf, annoyed that Gin was an idiot who couldn't remember anything important, even if his life counted on it.

"Right, right! He's sure to catch their attention, him being the container of the Kyuubi. I don't want to do it, but to ensure both his protection, as well as the world's….the only option left is…." Fuyu nodded.

"It must be done. It is necessary," replied the wolf in an almost regal manner.

As the two looked back on the scene their eyes had left, they noticed that there was a beaten up Chuunin ninja on the ground. Mizuki had been utterly defeated by the young blonde. The victory was Naruto's, and Konoha's. The rest of that morning consisted of Naruto being given Iruka's forehead protector with the leaf insignia imprinted on the front, as well as some crying from both student and sensei, though Iruka had done well at fighting back the tears.

Gin and Fuyu awaited their opportunity…

It was half an hour past eight in the morning. Naruto was now in bed in his apartment, asleep due to his exhaustion. He had just performed a jounin level ninjutsu that was written in the forbidden scroll. Coupled with the injuries and emotional strain from earlier on that morning, he crashed immediately after getting home, not needing to go to the hospital because those simple cuts and bruises were taken care of by the Kyuubi's chakra. Despite all the things that happened, Naruto was content. It wouldn't be long before he became an official ninja of the leaf village.

Iruka was currently changing the list of who was going to be graduating from Konoha's ninja academy. He gave off a warm smile as he added his favorite student to the list: "Uzumaki Naruto..." He paused for a moment in his thoughts. "You just might become a Hokage above all others."

Naruto had just woken up and was now getting ready to head over to the academy. Due to reasons that were unknown to the general populace of Konoha, villager and ninja alike, the time for the students to get together with their new teams was changed to 3:00 P.M. Naruto, who left his apartment at 2:00 P.M., had decided to leave early to get a bite to eat at Ichiraku's Ramen stand.

As Naruto exited the apartment complex door, he stretched out his body. With a rush of energy, he gave a "hurray!" for his victory and his passing the academy exams…though it was done through a very unorthodox way. As Naruto walked down the streets heading for his favorite food place in the entire world, he heard something that caught his attention. It appeared to be a kitten…and by the looks of it, it was all alone. What made things worse was that it had a gimp. The kitten was in an alley next to a garbage dumpster. Going over to the kitten, the poor creature tried to run away from the seemingly large and hungry invader. But because of its gimp, Naruto figured it couldn't run. Crouching down at the edge of the alley, Naruto began to stroke the cat's head and fur. "It looks like you're all alone…just like me…" Naruto said with a sad smile. However, unknown to Naruto, the cat was actually Fuyu.

"Now!" Fuyu exclaimed! Just on cue, Gin appeared behind Naruto, knife handing him in the back of the head, causing the boy to fall over unconscious. Naruto couldn't do anything as he was taken by complete surprise, although he was confused as to _how_ the 'kitten' was able to speak. As Naruto fell forward, Gin caught the boy, not letting collapse head first onto the ground.

"We must hurry and get out of Konoha." Fuyu reminded the man.

"I know, I know," said the man in an uncaring tone of voice. "Give me a minute…" Gin began to draw out chakra, flashing through several hand seals. Suddenly, a blue circle radiating light was formed on the ground. It was about two Meters across, and was just big enough to fit in the alley, which was about two and a half meters wide. Both Gin and Fuyu stepped inside the circle. The circle's light was now full, no longer outlining the circle, but creating what looked like a full moon on the ground. As the light completely enveloped them, they disappeared, leaving nothing behind. This bright light had caught the eyes of a few ninja, who upon seeing it, sped toward the phenomenon to see what it was. But when they got to the alleyway, nothing was there. It was completely empty.

**Outside of Konoha-15 Kilometers away from the Entrance**

Not too far away from the village, a circle of light appeared on the ground next to what seemed to be a type of seal written on three metal plates embedded in the ground. The circle appeared in between these thee plates. Appearing in the circle were Gin, Fuyu, and Naruto who was resting on Gin's back. "I LOVE doing that!" exclaimed Gin. The man was referring to the teleportation technique he just used. If one creates a fixated location seal, in this case the area in between the three metal plates, then one can teleport to that place. However, the drawback to using this technique is that it drains a lot of chakra.

"Do you have enough strength left to perform the sealing?" asked Fuyu.

"I believe so." Answered Gin, taking scroll from inside his cloak. The two stepped out of the circle of light as the illumination dissipated. Gin walked over to what seemed to be a large oak tree. "This tree is good….I'll perform the jutsu here." The man paused, the scroll still in hand. "Hey, Fuyu…."

"What?" asked his fanged friend, seeing hesitation in the man.

"Is it really necessary to seal the boy. He has a good heart….and-" He was cut off by a subtle growl.

"Gin….you already know the answer to that. I don't like it either, but this is for the best. Think about it. If Akatsuki comes after Naruto, there is a high possibility that they could get their hands on the Kyuubi. It's for his protection, as well as for the protection of all others. Also….we don't know what the boy will become under that fox's influence. Granted, he may be strong enough to not be tainted by that demon's evil youki, but that isn't for certain." Gin sighed after hearing this. He felt Fuyu had a few good points, but he still didn't like it.

"I swear….if anything bad happens to this kid…I'm leaving this frickin' group." stated the golden-eyed man quite boldly. Fuyu's eyes widened in partial shock.

"I knew you were stupid, but that would be insane! Don't do anything foolish." Said the wolf, trying to hold back yet another growl. Gin nodded in response, but he couldn't help but feel that this was wrong.

Bringing the seal up to the tree, he slammed it into the trunk. The scroll began to react very strangely to the bark as Gin sent out a large amount of chakra. The scroll began to shine as it quickly unraveled, wrapping itself around the tree trunk. As soon as the scroll had finished unraveling and was tightly wrapped around the base of the tree, the scroll and tree trunk began to shine together. "Now!" exclaimed Gin as Fuyu hoisted Naruto up by his shirt, gripping it with his teeth. Dragging the unconscious boy over to the tree, the wolf set Naruto down at its base. Taking his hands off of the tree, Gin picked the boy up off of the ground and set his body against the tree. As he did so, the boy's body began to fuse into the tree, disappearing into the illuminated base of the tree. After Naruto was completely inside the tree, Gin exclaimed, "Fuuinjutsu: Taimu Furi-zu!" The chakra finally dispersed, leaving the tree as it was before. The scroll had fused with the tree, so all what was left was the appearance the wood had originally. Gin smiled sadly, as he looked at the tree where he had just sealed the boy. "Whenever you come back to waking…..grow strong Naruto…" said the man with a smirk on his face. Fuyu noticed the smirk, so he decided to question him.

"Gin..did you….do something?" asked the wolf as he quirked an eyebrow at the silver-haired man.

"I made a little…variation to the time-freeze seal…." said the man in reply.

"What!? What did you!?" barked the white-furred wolf. "I just added another seal onto that scroll…one that would act to create a smoother transition from Kyuubi's chakra to Naruto's chakra…and though I performed a time-freezing technique, this conversion of chakra will continue, even as the boy is sealed." Gin's smirk turned into a wide grin at his accomplishment. "Someday, he will truly become strong." Fuyu eyed Gin with annoyance, though he was also curious as to why the man cared so much for the boy.

"You can be so….troublesome," said the wolf, a phrase that many would know came from a certain newly instated Konoha genin.

With the sealing being finished, Gin and Fuyu began to escape the scene quickly, especially after the silvery wolf made it clear that there was a group of Konoha patrols who were on their way to investigate what the surge of chakra was that they had just felt. And with that, the two left, leaving behind the tree of sealing.

**Author's Notes**

**Techiniques Guide:**

1. Bunshin no Jutsu - Clone Technique –the ability to create clones that do not have actual physical bodies (original-meaning from the Naruto series)

2. Henge – Technique which can disguise a person (an example would be likened to that of Fuyu disguising himself as a kitten) (original)

4. Oiroke no Jutsu – "Sexy Technique" – Combining the Henge and some prankster-ingenuity, Naruto created this technique to defeat all perverted men around the world! The ultimate technique to combat lecherous old men! (original)

4. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Shadow Clone Technique (original)

5. Circle of Light/Teleportation (I haven't decided a name for it yet)-teleports a person to a fixed location by using metal plated for the fixated area. Although this can be a useful technique, it is quite taxing on the chakra reserves. Though I haven't made this quite clear yet, Gin is a high-level shinobi, and the technique used about 20 of his reserves. (mine)

6. Fuuinjutsu: Taimu Furi-zu – "Sealing Technique: Time Freeze" – This technique is one that a user can cast on something to seal it. With the case of a human being sealed, such as Naruto, he person will not age, but time will still progress outside of the seal. This technique is much more taxing on the chakra reserves than the circle of light technique, for this sealing jutsu used up about 50 of Gin's remaining reserves, meaning that if he used this technique before using the circle of light teleportation jutsu, it still would have drained him of 40 of his reserves. The reason for this drain is because it is an imperfect technique. (mine)

**Final Note: **It would be greatly appreciated if any readers would give me reviews and tips on what I can do to make this story, or perhaps my writing, better. Thank you for reading! Hopefully, I can begin writing the second chapter soon! My finals are over on December 14th, 2007, so any new additions won't be before that! Again, thank you!


	2. Tree of Sealing

**Naruto: The Sealed**

By: EleosLeonhart

Chapter 2: Tree of Sealing

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto. [That disclaimer is for every chapter of this story, including this one (so unless there's a rule that says you have to put a disclaimer at the beginning of every chapter, I will stop putting this annoying thing, since it's already been covered in chapter one, as well as in this one).

**Author's Notes**:

-First of all, the "Twelve Years Later" was before the Prologue...although, Gin and Fuyu did have ties to the time of Naruto's birth…but that will all become clear later.

-The first chapter wasn't too difficult to write, but let me say this…This second chapter was giving me quite the frustrations! Having writer's block in Chapter Two….oh boy! Also, sorry I couldn't get this up quickly. I know that in general, when writers begin their stories, they are able to write easier and quicker. However, I've been doing quite a bit of studying.

**Servant-** Yeah, I know! I've been wanting to do this time change theme for a while now. I am proud to make this my first story. Yes, although I was originally going to give Fuyu and Gin minor roles, as I think through my story more and more, they likewise seem to pop up in my head.

**Actionliker-** Heheheh…In response to your questions, yes. Actually you got the number down perfectly. But, there will be much more than just that.

**Daniel14541-** Thank you for your support and willingness to give me your opinions. I will probably be consulting you with these next chapters, especially since I'm having to critically think through SEVERAL possible scenarios on how I should develop my story.

**NarutoKage7 & Others: **I used and my own imagination for the jutsu names.

**SPECIAL THANKS TO:** actionliker, Servant, shyalchemist, r2d2cool, Natsume Beavoir, Diabolus Regnum, Draag, ThePuppet, darkestdepths90, Alexman16, spedclass, Daniel14541, duelingchamp, "Hope", Bloodless Ace, NarutoKage7, and timt020! Each of you were my first reviewers of the first chapter of my first story!

I also thank all of you other readers, past, present, and future! I hope you all enjoy "Naruto: The Sealed" !

**Three Days After Naruto's Sealing**

The Sandaime was incredibly worried. For the past three days, Naruto had been missing. Being concerned for young Uzumaki, the Hokage immediately dispatched two teams of ninja to search for the boy. In each group, he made sure there was a Hyuuga, having the capability to see things from afar, as well as see through walls and layers of solid objects. He even had Team Gai join in the search on the third day, one of guy's students being the promising Hyuuga Neji of the Branch House. Neji was the Rookie of the Year of last year's new genin graduates. Although the three teams had searched high and low for the young blonde, he was nowhere to be found. Each team had reported in early in the afternoon, briefing the Hokage on their findings, which was none at all.

The Sandaime slouched in his chair, rubbing his temples with his fingers from either hand. "Continue the search." he said, a dark and worried undertone in his voice.

"But Hokage-sam-" said a Chuunin from one of the search parties before being interrupted by the Hokage's raised hand.

After signaling for the Chuunin to stop speaking, the Kage of the Leaf continued, "I want him found immediately."

The Chuunin nodded his head, leaving the room. The Hokage had made sure to designate the search parties out of teams that were in their mid-teens. By doing this, he tried to make sure that the ninja searching for Naruto were too young to know about the boy's secret. Having Maito Gai and his team was an excellent addition to the search party, but even Gai's team had trouble locating the Kyuubi container.

After a few more hours, the Hokage came to a decision. Even though his ninja had searched all over Konoha, the outskirts of the village, and even nearby towns, Naruto was nowhere to be found. He decided to make a public announcement to the people about what was going on. He was certain that many would be filled with joy to hear that their local "demon brat" was gone. But the Sandaime had a plan.

Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, spread news that early in the morning, he would be sharing news with all of Konoha. He made it mandatory for all to come the public announcement. After his message had gone out, whether by oral announcement by ninja, or by letters from the Hokage posted on everyone's doors at home, he decided to call it a night. After all, he was going to need all the rest he could get…

The next day, the Sandaime got up early. He hadn't slept well, despite going to bed early in the night. At 8:30 in the morning, he prepared himself for what he would be telling the crowds just a short thirty minutes later on the balcony of the Hokage Tower. It was there that he would address the people.

He watched as the people filed in. It seemed that no one would ignore the Hokage, seeing as how there was a large horde of ninja and villagers alike in the Village Square, the place where the Kage of the Leaf would be able to give speeches or divulge information to its citizens. He was so wrapped up in looking down at the people, that without the help of one of his attendants, he would have lost track of time and would have been late. Grudgingly, he made his way from his office window, moving down the hallways of the tower, and finally moving into the room which connected to the balcony.

Opening the double doors, Sandaime stepped out, a grim expression on his face. When he stepped through the doors, he received a large roaring applause from the citizens. He stepped up to the end of the lookout balcony. On the platform, he was accompanied by two Chuunin, Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo, as well as by the two heads of the village council, the elders Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.

Sarutobi raised his right hand to silent the crowd. Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, as well as his resolve, he projected his voice to a now hushed crowd. "Citizens of Konoha! First of all, I thank each of you for coming today. I know each of you have certain duties and responsibilities to take care of, so I humbly thank each of you for meeting here on such short notice." The Kage of the Leaf cleared his throat as he eyed many of the people he overviewed from his elevated position. "I'm sure that most of you are curious as to what this announcement pertains to." The old man sighed heavily, and if one were close enough to him, they would not miss the tiredness and worry in his eyes. "Three days ago, a villager, and newly instated genin ninja, disappeared from Konoha. His whereabouts are unknown. I have sent several capable ninja to search for the boy, but to no avail, he has not been located. It is my belief, as well as the council's, that this boy has either run away, or been kidnapped. I believe the latter to be true."

"Who was kidnapped?" shouted one person from the crowd in worry for the poor boy.

"His name is Uzumaki Naruto," said the Sandaime with a hint of sadness. The crowd's once worried expressions now turned into a combined presence of hatred, bitterness, and frustration. There were few that actually had come to accept, and even love the boy, these being the Sandaime, Iruka, Teuchi and his daughter Ayame (Ramen stand), and a few others, who had seen him for who he was, rather than what he contained inside of him.

"SILENCE!" shouted the Sandaime, anger clear on his face as he narrowed his eyes at the mass of people. "Uzumaki Naruto was a Konoha villager and ninja. He was a part of our daily lives. And little do any of you know, Naruto stopped a traitorous ninja from doing any serious harm to a Chuunin academy instructor." Sarutobi calmed down visibly, but not internally. Straightening himself up, he continued, "As of today, security policies will be tightened. Border patrol will also be increased." He paused for a moment, only to move on once catching his breath. "Furthermore…if anyone finds, or aids in the location of Uzumaki Naruto, he or she will be rewarded. That is all…thank you…" And with that, the Hokage returned to his office, wanting to clear his head from all that had transpired.

Outside, many of the villagers were sneering and some, laughing, that the boy had gone.

"It's about time!"

"Little demon brat!"

"Finally, we are at peace!"

It was phrases such as these that struck Iruka, and the small population of Konoha that appreciated, acknowledged, and even loved the boy, in the heart. Even the remaining rookies of this year's graduates from the ninja academy seem to have sad expressions on their faces, some more so than others. Although Naruto had been what they considered the dobe, or dead last of their class, he was still someone they saw every day.

"_So that's why he wasn't there…" _thought Sasuke.

"_Naruto…what could have happened to you?" _wondered Sakura, feeling terrible for every bad thing she had ever said to him, even if he was consistently annoying to her.

"N-Naruto….I-It can't b-be….." muttered a heartbroken Hinata, falling to her knees. By her side, Kiba and Shino, her teammates, comforted her, telling her everything would be alright.

Time continued on, and at the end of the week, there was still no sign of Naruto, nor any hints in the investigation that could possibly lead up to finding him. Though some were disheartened, most felt overjoyed to finally be rid of the _evil beast_. However, some people's perspectives began to change over time. Although it was a small number, there was a small amount of villagers and ninja who began to realize how important Naruto was to the village. Although it was true he caused trouble on multiple occasions, they found their lives seemed duller that it once was with the constant news of a new village prank.

After Naruto's disappearance, the rookie graduates from his class continued with their training. Team Seven was composed of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Hatake Kakashi. The Hokage, after two weeks worth of searching for Naruto, was required to place another person on the team by the name of Kurusu Sena. Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba were all placed under the tutelage of Yuuhi Kurenai, the village's genjutsu specialist. Akimichi Chouji, Yamanaka Ino, and Nara Shikamaru were given Sarutobi Asuma, son of the Sandaime, as their jounin instructor.

As time progressed, each person from each team matured into a fine shinobi. Nearly four months after Naruto's disappearance, they were entered into the Chuunin exams. Each rookie team passed the first two exams, the young Konoha ninja making it to the preliminaries for the Third and Final Exam the Chuunin-hopefuls would be taking.

It was during this Chuunin exam that a war broke out between Konoha village and the Oto and Suna villages. Halfway through the final matches of the exam, fighting broke out between said shinobi villages. The Sandaime was even separated and trapped inside a barrier, only to face off against the Yondaime Kazekage, who was really Sarutobi's ex-apprentice, the hebi sannin, Orochimaru. Using a forbidden technique, Orochimaru had three coffins come up from the ground. Each coffin had a number on it, the numbers being "I", "II", and "IV." The first coffin opened, showing the first Hokage of the Leaf. The second coffin, revealing the Nidaime. Realizing what would be behind the fourth coffin, the Sandaime hastily through large shuriken at the wooden case to prevent it from opening. He knew that if the Yondaime, Konoha's "Yellow Flash", had come out, he would not stand a chance.

As Sarutobi fought against Orochimaru, he did not fair well. The snake sannin, using the Shodaime and Nidaime to tire the old man out, was winning with little effort against his ex-sensei.

**In the match…**

"_It seems I have no other option…"_ thought Sarutobi as he struggled to get up from the ground. The old Hokage was trapped in a strong barrier, contained by four of Orochimaru's ninja from the Sound. _"Escape isn't an option…and it seems I can't destroy the bodies given to the Shodaime or Nidaime…Orochimaru….you have become so...tainted…It seems I must use 'that' technique…."_ Sandaime began to make some handseals, however…just before initiating the forbidden jutsu that was to sacrifice his own life to save Konoha, he was knocked unconscious from behind.

Not long after, the old kage of the leaf looked up from his place on the ground, and watched as Orochimaru fought off against a man. He couldn't recall much about the man, although it seemed from his dazed perspective that it was an Inuzuka who was fighting the hebi sannin, on account of the furry creature that was next to him, although he couldn't be too sure.

It wouldn't be for another three days until the Sandaime would find himself in the Konoha hospital bed, somehow still alive. When he asked about what had happened, about what had become of Orochimaru, and about who the man that had fought the snake sannin was, all he got were empty answers, none of which satisfied him.

After four more days of being in the hospital, the Sandaime was released and allowed to go back to work, although he often wondered about who had fought Orochimaru. _"Who was he….?"_ he would muse during his paperwork. He couldn't remember anything particular about the man, although one blurry image remained after what seemed to be the man's victory…an image still burned into the Sandaime…

"_Those golden eyes…"_

Meanwhile, in the forest of the outskirts of Konoha, a man stood alone. His hand rested on a rather large oak tree as he spoke softly, "There…that should do…" He smiled warmly at the tree, as if he were smiling directly at the young blonde boy who was sealed within it.

_Far Away From Konoha…_

A group of dark silhouettes met in a cavern, the inside walls covered in what seemed to be hundreds of different types of runes. The cave was located in the bowels of a dark forest, one with trees that provided a canopy of darkness twenty-four hours a day, whether the sun was out or not. In the cavern, the several figures met in a particular room that seemed to be a perfect chamber to conduct meetings. Located in the dark room of the chilled cavern were perhaps twenty or so beings, each a presence more terrifying than your average shinobi. One person, a man judging by his voice, spoke up to the others, seeming to assume leadership over another.

"Shiori…did you take care of the bijuu of Suna…?" asked the man.

Shiori, a female who was present among the group, nodded her head. "It's been taken care of sir."

Next to the man who had spoken to Shiori, were four others. They seemed to assume leadership over the several beings there as a group. "Then we have seven remaining. Shiori, your next destination will be Water Country. There were rumors of a jinchuuriki there, near Kiri."

Another man spoke up, "Kimiko, accompany her."

"Hai." said another female of nearly the same age as Shiori. With the orders being placed, Shiori and Kimiko left the cavern, leaving the other persons behind in the isolated cavern.

_**FOUR YEARS AND FIVE MONTHS LATER…**_

The skies were overcast in the dusk of the day. It seemed as though the clouds were getting ready to burst in tears, pouring down its precious rain upon the forest below them. In the forest, all was well. There was a pleasant breeze going through the air, and all seemed peaceful…until…

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" yelled a boy, barely a teenager, shooting forth a moderately sized fireball at a man who approached him quickly. The man simply evaded the fire technique, jumping onto the side of a nearby tree, and using the help of chakra distributed to his feet, boosted toward the boy, a sinister smirk on his face. As he drew closer to the boy, he took out a kunai from his kunai holster, preparing himself for a fun kill. However, before the older shinobi was able to pulverize the boy, who had not been able to set up a proper defense, another older man had intervened, flying in from the enemy nin's side, kicking him with a flying roundhouse kick that, with help to the enemy nin's momentum, was devastatingly powerful. "E-Ebisu-sensei!" exclaimed the boy, both happy and in shock.

"Konohamaru! You must not let your guard down, even for a second!" said Ebisu in a quick warning. "You can become the Godaime, or perhaps the Rokudaime Hokage, but only if you're still alive!"

Konohamaru lowered his head, ashamed that he had let his guard down. "I'm sorry Ebisu-sensei….it's just…he was so fast…" said the boy, an uncharacteristic sadness in his voice. Konohamaru's eyes widened slightly. "Moegi! Udon! Where are they?! Are they alright?!" exclaimed the boy.

"We're fine…" said Udon, proceeding to give a light cough. Moegi was with him. It seems as though Udon had sustained a few cuts and bruises, as had Moegi, although Moegi also had a burn mark on her right arm. Konohamaru became relieved at the fact that his friends were safe.

Ebisu narrowed his eyes, his sight being set on the trees above them. "No, don't let your guard down! There are more of them!" said the sensei in a more forceful tone than he had used to use when Konohamaru was a little boy.

A sinister laugh came from the trees as two shinobi came down. "Careful…." Warned Ebisu. "These men are probably both chuunin level…"

One of them men laughed some more. "Chuunin level? Maybe my younger brother here…" the man said, pointing to the slightly smaller man. "But I am of jounin level! You're all dead, Konoha scum."

Ebisu's eyes narrowed even more. "First, you dare to come within the Fire Country's borders…Second, you're not the only jounin here. Third, you're outnumbered. Fourth, you seem to be from Oto….last I checked, Konoha and Oto weren't on the best of terms…" The Konoha elite jounin trainer paused before continuing. "Leave, or die."

The two men laughed. "US!? Die!? It seems we have a comedian!" the older man said to his younger brother. The younger man sneered viciously. "Well, the clowns have always been more entertaining when we cut them up!" he snarled, an evil smirk marking his face.

Ebisu looked over at his genin squad. "Konohamaru, Udon, Moegi. You three take the younger one, I'll take care of the older brother." he ordered. The three genin nodded their heads, despite their nervousness.

"Takuu, take care of them!" ordered the older brother. Takuu nodded, going after Moegi, before being intercepted by three kunai coming toward him by a certain boy by the name of Konohamaru. "I don't think so!" the boy said. Udon began to observe their surroundings, trying to develop a plan to use the forest terrain to their advantage.

"I know who you are…" said Ebisu to the older Sound nin as his genin and the chuunin level nin began to fight. "You are Takawaki Raomu, a high B-ranked Oto-nin that is posted in our Bingo Books."

"Ah, so you've heard of me!" smirked Raomu. "Well, it won't do you any good! You will die here…you and your genin squad!" exclaimed Raomu as he sprinted toward Ebisu. Ebisu quickly put distance between the two.

"UDON! MOEGI!" exclaimed Konohamaru. Moegi had been knocked out by getting kicked into a tree by Takawaki Takuu, the younger brother of the two Sound nin. Udon, although still conscious, had sustained a serious wound to his shoulder.

"KUSO!" yelled Konohamaru. "Udon, look after Moegi!" And with that, Konohamaru began to run, spanking his butt with his hand as a taunt. Quite annoyed at the boy's antics, Takuu chose to get rid of him first. Speeding toward him, he noticed the beginning of a familiar jutsu. It was familiar since it was just used against one of his teammates, although it had missed. "Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!" yelled Konohamaru, firing yet another fireball from his mouth toward the chuunin level Oto nin. This time, the fireball was larger, and had even managed to burn Takuu's arm slightly, causing him to hiss in pain. "Now….YOU'RE DEAD!" shouted Takuu toward the boy as the Sound nin rushed toward him, causing Konohamaru to run, attempting to gain some distance on the man.

Ebisu was surprised that the Sound would attempt an attack on Konoha ninja so close to the Leaf Village. They couldn't have been more than twenty kilometers away. Te leaf jounin was taken away from his thoughts as he was in the process of blocking a combination of taijutsu attacks from his opponent. When it came to Taijutsu, it seems they were on nearly even terms, although Raomu was slightly stronger than he was. Ebisu figured that if one were to look at the overall abilities of the two from a neutral standpoint, Raomu would appear to be the stronger. Ebisu also had a slight suspicion that he would have trouble against the Oto nin in terms of Ninjutsu. That left Genjutsu as what seemed to be the only viable option. Ebisu was not the type of shinobi who excelled at one or two things. He was more of a well-rounded shinobi. However, that was not always a good thing, especially when fighting someone who specialized in a specific jutsu type."

The man chuckled darkly at Ebisu as the Leaf nin dodged or blocked his attacks. "You won't last for long…." The man jumped back twice, creating distance between the two. He gripped his katana with his left hand, his right hand puling it out slowly from its sheath by its handle. When he unsheathed the blade, it revealed a steel katana with four holes in the middle of the blade, evenly spaced between each other. "Kukuku…" chuckled the man darkly. "Your end is near."

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" yelled Konohamaru after stopping next to a gathering of trees. He had brought out four kunai, which multiplied to nearly twenty as he threw them at the Oto nin. However, Takuu simply clapped his hands together, creating a blast of vibration throughout the air that stopped the projectiles before they reached his body. Konohamaru had taken off once again.

The boy was low on chakra, and even lower on time. He figured his grand fireballs worked best against Takuu, seeing as how he was able to inflict injury upon the young man. It was his only option. Konohamaru finally came to a small clearing, a murderous Sound nin coming in fast on his tail. "Bunshin no jutsu!"

As Takuu came into the clearing, he saw not one, but five Konohamaru's. He couldn't see a shadow underneath any of them, on account of the tree's shade in the forest outside of Konoha. _"I'll just kill them all!"_ thought Takuu excitedly, using his weapon-imbued hands to control supersonic sound waves, launching it toward the Konohamaru's. "Zankuuha!" yelled the Sound nin as the blast hit the group of boys. However, when it hit, they all puffed out off existence. It was that very moment that he heard a "Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!"

Turning around, Takuu became wide eyed as the blast of fire came toward him, hitting him dead on, throwing him against a tree. Konohamaru, fell down, leaning against a large oak tree, due to his chakra exhaustion.

Ebisu was dodging the holed blade as best he could. He now sported a wound his right shoulder and left leg. The blade's aim seemed to be longer, the extended part being invisible since it was composed of sound waves. It took all of Ebisu's shinobi instincts to even stay alive in the match. Although Ebisu was at a disadvantage, he did manage to score a good slash on Raomu's back, although it wasn't as deep as he wished it were. Ebisu was just thankful that he wasn't fighting someone of Kakashi's caliber. If he had fought someone at that level, he would have been wiped out a long time ago.

Konohamaru rested against a large oak tree. The skies began to pour down rain. The boy thoroughly appreciated the shower as it washed over his body. He had nearly passed out due to chakra exhaustion. He couldn't fight anymore. He just hoped it was over. However, when he heard coughing, his worst fears came alive. The figure across from him, against a tree opposite to Konohamaru, stood up slowly and shakily, coughing up blood from the impact of hitting against the tree, He was covered in burn marks and tattered clothing. His eyed narrowed venomously at the young Konoha nin. "You're…gonna…die…." managed the Oto nin as he walked over slowly to the boy. Konohamaru, upon seeing his approach, tried to get up, but he quickly found that his legs wouldn't budge. He couldn't feel his legs. It dawned on Konohamaru….he was…going to die…!

_Pulse…_

The boy thought he had felt something like a heartbeat, but he figured it was his own as the dangerous chuunin level nin came closer to give the boy a final blow.

_Pulse…_

Again, that feeling. This time, he wasn't so sure if it was his heartbeat. The beats weren't even on the same pace. This heartbeat he was feeling was much more relaxed and much slower than his was, especially considering the situation. Takuu was now in front of Konohamaru. He raised his hand into the air. "Ready to die…!?" exclaimed the man.

_Pulse…_

"DIE YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" yelled the man in fury, his fist collecting chakra as air became pressurized around it. He was fully intent on completely squashing Konohamaru, leaving nothing left of him. He swung his arm down hard, the air curving in respect to its motion. _"N-no….I can't die…not like this! Someone….please….save me…!"_

Konohamaru had closed his eyes, however, after he did, nothing had happened. _"Huh…?"_ wondered the boy, as he reopened them. He looked up, seeing a man with a confused look on his face. Something had happened, but Konohamaru wasn't sure quite what it was…that is…until he looked in the direction the man's eyes were aligned to. Konohamaru slightly turned his head, unable to do much more. His eyes widened in awe at what he saw. The tree he was leaning against was glowing! Furthermore, there were writings on it, appearing as if they were seals!

"Ninpou: Ha Shuriken!" yelled Ebisu, utilizing one of his favorite and most effective techniques in his arsenal of ninjutsu. Dozens and dozens of leaves, all hardened with enough chakra to make the technique work, flew at Raomu like shuriken. The fact that there were leaves everywhere didn't help the Oto nin. He was soon after given several cuts and wounds from the leaf-shrikes. The only problem with this technique was that it was quite taxing on Ebisu's chakra reserves, as he had to maintain a certain level of strength for the leaves to be effective as shuriken. After the technique tied down, both shinobi were hunched over; one from wounds, one from near chakra exhaustion. However…Raomu straightened himself up. "You're going…to pay…for that!" shouted the man angrily, bleeding from the nose, among multiple other places. He charged at Ebisu, the Konoha nin pulling out a kunai and positioning himself in a defensive stance. He was about out of chakra. He mentally cursed at not being stronger. As Raomu continued his advance, he felt a presence from his left, his ninja senses kicking in and telling him to dodge projectile that were coming toward him. The man growled upon seeing Udon, the glasses wearing genin that was on Ebisu's team. "Udon! Where are Konohamaru and Moegi?!" demanded Ebisu. Udon did not take his eyes off of Raomu as he answered his sensei, "Moegi was knocked out cold, and I sustained an injury. Konohamaru took on the man alone, telling me to look after Moegi."

Ebisu mentally cursed. He should have known something like this would happen. "However…neither the chuunin nor Konohamaru have returned yet. I would imagine that at the time I sent Moegi after them, they were either still fighting, or they were too injured to continue." Ebisu thought about it. "We need to wrap things up as soon as possible here so we can get to those two."

"Hai, sensei!" Udon said, nodding in agreement.

"What the hell!?" exclaimed Takuu as he watched the tree behind the boy he was intent on killing glow fiercely. "Wh-what's going on!?" he asked to no one in particular, his eyes showing clear bewilderment and as well as a large hint of fear.

Konohamaru was as equally perplexed by the light. He just hoped that there was still hope for him. More and more sealing runes were becoming visible in the tree now, the inscriptions glowing a dark blue, as the tree was glowing in a bright white color. The tree suddenly became translucent, slowly showing its inside compartments more and more. As it became nearly completely see-through, both Takuu and Konohamaru were able to make out an image inside of the tree. It was….a boy…!

Several footsteps could be heard through the trees as the Konoha patrol wove in between the solid objects. There were nine Anbu on patrol around Konoha, divided into three teams of three. One of those particular groups wasn't nearly finished with their shift. But when a light could be seen in the distance, they had decided to investigate it. Actually, the Anbu nearly missed the illumination, on account of the rain. However, what they couldn't have missed were the pulses of chakra they felt coming from that very location. They nodded to each other, making a detour and hurrying over to the source of the light.

As they sprinted through the forest, they noticed bodies on the ground. They went to quickly examine them. Oto nin…!" exclaimed one of the Anbu. After realizing who the bodies belonged to, the Anbu decided to rush again toward the source of that light. However…as they ran through the forest, they came across a scene they could not ignore.

"E-Ebisu-sensei!" exclaimed Udon, seeing his sensei get struck by a powerful ninjutsu that made the Konoha jounin drop to the ground. He now regretting getting lax in his own training regimen. Raomu smirked at the scene. "Time for both sensei and student to die!" said the man darkly, raising his holed blade into the air to take a strike at the sensei head. However, his plans changed upon being beat out of the way by a quick frontal kick from the side. Raomu was laughed into a tree, one of his ribs breaking upon contact. He hissed in pain from the collected injuries of his current fight mixed in with what he was feeling in his rib cage. He mentally cursed as he looked up at what was not the little brat student, but an Anbu guard. "Kuso…!" cursed the Oto nin.

"Surrender." said the masked leaf ninja.

Takuu watched in fear as the tree became translucent, showing what appeared to be a boy inside of its trunk. "Th-this…..must be…a genjutsu!" he said hastily, trying to rationalize the situation. "Kai!" he shouted, sweat rolling down the side of his head, moving down to the wounds that marked his body. Seeing that it didn't work the first time, he tried a second attempt. "KAI!" he shouted once more, but to no avail. It was no illusion.

Konohamaru looked behind him. If a tree shining wasn't enough of a surprise, the fact there was a boy inside of tree got him even more riled up. He shivered in uneasiness, being overwhelmed with fear. _"Am I going to die!?"_ he thought, his heartbeat running a marathon inside of his chest.

As the two watched the boy inside of the tree, the blonde's eyes slowly opened. The eyes were of a sapphire blue and looked straight at Konohamaru, who was at the base of the tree. "Oh kami…" muttered the boy in disbelief as the blonde boy began to walk out from the innards of tree. Finally, stepping out of the tree completely, the three made contact with each other. Both Konohamaru and Takuu were screaming in trepidation, their minds racing. _"Wh-who...is he?"_ thought Konohamaru, who was now having the urge to run away, that is, if he were _able_ to get up. However, these thoughts were interrupted when both of the surprised ninja heard the boy speak up with a phrase they didn't quite to expect.

"Ehh….Where am I?" said the blonde boy, causing the two that were looking at the blue eyed kid with even more confusion. However, the confusion that belonged to Takuu was erased once he saw the forehead protector on the blonde's head. "You're just another Konoha kid who likes to play ninja…kukuku….you've really….PISSED ME OFF!"

Naruto just gave a confused expression as he listened to the man. "Now both you and the brat are going to die!" The man pumped chakra into his hands, getting ready to throw a blast of pressurized air at the preteen and teen. "Zankuuha!" yelled the man letting his blast fly toward the boys. The blonde narrowed his eyes at the man.

Forming a cross handseal, he yelled out, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!", forming twenty clones of himself, all huddling between the blast and the two real boys. Naruto, using the shadow clones as a shield, quickly went to pick Konohamaru up. The Zankuuha blast drove through all the clones, ramming itself into the tree that once held the blonde boy. He saw that the two boys had gotten away from the blast. "Come out you little gaki bastards!" yelled the older man.

Sapphire orbs looked down upon Konohamaru as the young Sarutobi was sat down against another tree. "There you are….heheh….I'm going to have fun killing you….so do me a favor…and STOP RUNNING!"

"I won't from you bastard!" yelled the boy in return.

The man began to laugh maniacally. "Good…."

"Because I'm the future Hokage of Konoha, and nothing's going to keep me down!"

The man busted out laughing once again. "YOU?! You're just a kid playing ninja!" he barked at the blonde.

The boy smirked, creating the cross handseal yet again. "I WILL become Hokage, and I don't EVER take my words back! That's my nindo!" exclaimed the boy loudly as he yelled out, "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

What the man now saw was something that made his mouth gape open. No longer was it a forest of trees, shrubs, and plant life, but a mass mixture of bright orange and yellow. The boy had created hundreds of shadow clones in the area.

"Th-they're Bunshins…" he barely choked out, trying to rationalize that there was no way a person could have those kind of reserves, unless they were of jounin level or above! But here he was, surrounded by a huge mass of blonde shadow clones.

"Attack!" they all shouted in unison. The blondes leaped toward him, surrounding him from all sides. And even though he was a chuunin, a high level one at that, he was injured, exhausted, and outnumbered. "Zankuuha!" he said, creating his largest blast yet, trying to find a route of escape in panic. A good forty or so clones were blown away with that last chunk of chakra left. The man fell over, no longer able to stand from both exhaustion and blood loss."

As the man fell over unconscious, the boy wearing orange released his shadow clones. He then began to walk over to Konohamaru, who was now fading into unconsciousness. "What's…your..name…" asked Konohamaru. The blonde gave the Sarutobi teen a wide grin, a determined gleam in his eye.

"Future Hokage of Konoha! Uzumaki Naruto!"

After hearing this, Konohamaru blacked out.

**Author's Notes**

**Techniques Guide:**

1. Edo Tensei – "Resurrection to the Impure World" – The official name of the technique Orochimaru used to bring the dead back to life to fight for him, in this case, two of the tree dead Hokage. (original)

2. Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu – "Grand Fireball Technique" – The user exhales a large fire ball from his or her mouth. (original)

3. Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – "Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique" – Creates copies of a shuriken, much like the Kage Bunshin, into physical clones capable of causing the same type of damage to the enemy as a real shuriken. (original)

4. Zankuuha – "Decapitating Air Waves" – Shoots out a blast of pressurized air at the enemy. Takuu was able to maximize its effect with his specially devised arm/hand gear. (original)

5. Ninpou: Ha Shuriken – "Ninja Arts: Leaf Shuriken" – Hardens leaves around a person and can be used as sharp projectiles against opponent. This technique can be very taxing on the chakra reserves. (mine)

**Final Note: **Phew! This chapter was NOT easy, I'll just say that! The first difficult part I ran into was whether or not Sandaime should die during the Chuunin exams of the original Rookie Nine…as you can see, he lived through that time, in comparison to the original series, in which he doesn't have that luxury.

The second block was over just how much I wanted to skip!

The third block was the entire last segment of the story and how I wanted to work it. In the end, I just wrote and decided to leave it how I wrote it.

Originally, I wasn't going to write another chapter until finals. I blame it on you readers and your encouraging words! :D

**Thank you for all who have read! If you have any advice, please feel free to give it.**

**Also, if there is anything you'd like to see in the story, please tell me so I can add to my collection of where this story can go!**

**I promise to do my best at making this story better and better!**

**Stay tuned in for the next chapter of…Naruto: The Sealed!!**


	3. Reinstatement

**Naruto: The Sealed**

By: EleosLeonhart

Chapter 3: Reinstatement

**Author's Notes:**

- I've been using Microsoft Word for my story. However, when I create a border, it seems not to work. I had some formatting problems and complications because of those borders not being in place. Maybe if I undo the borders and leave them as under scores, it won't change. I only hope.

- Also, I felt like making Ebisu just a tad cooler. I figured that if he were a jounin sensei, he would have to be better equipped as a ninja himself. So, in preparation of becoming a jounin sensei, he beefed up his training a bit during that five-year time span.

**The Great Rick- **Plot is important to me. Naruto isn't going to suddenly be the strongest person, or even one of the strongest, at this point. He needs to grow as both a character, as well as a ninja. So, have no worries.

**actionliker:** Naruto did not stay the same. However, these changes are small and have to do with seals. They have not affected his personality, nor his physical features. As for any other changes, we'll see. :-)

**Gozen V-** Actually, I had three different ideas about when Naruto should awaken. One was fifty or sixty years later when all of his friends were old geezers or dead. But, as you can see, I decided to go with this.

**NarutoKage7:** Naruto's body did not age. As for his strength, you'll have to wait to see. Heheh.

**Servant:** Yes, Naruto is younger by Konohamaru by approximately one year. And yes, it is a little odd.

"**elarhy"- **If I make pairings, it won't be in these first chapters. Actually, I'd rather not have pairings in the first ten. Plot needs to develop before there are pairings.

**r2d2cool:** Is the Sandaime dead? Well, you're going to find out in this chapter. :-)

**Ghostfur:** Hahah! I appreciate the encouragement. This made me laugh! Thanks:D

**Bloodless Ace:** Yeah, although spelling and grammar checks are great, they don't always get everything in context. I'm glad you were able to read things in context! I hope you enjoy!

**Arthain:** I appreciate your critique. And yes, you're very correct. The way I wrote my story was not entirely congruent in its structure. Hopefully, I won't run into that problem anymore. Thank you!

**top:** Hm, yes Konohamaru did get a lot of face time. However, he is probably going to be a main support character. There won't be much of that now that Naruto has had his _de-freeze._

"**Anonymous"**: Don't worry, I won't be quitting until I finish the story. D

"**Unon Amus"**: I actually realized that too! Hahah! No, it's not a cross-over…and I actually dislike Inuyasha, no offense to Inuyasha fans. I actually came up with that by myself…I just forgot that Inuyasha got sealed to a tree…but remember, Naruto was sealed _inside_ a tree, not to it.

As far as the Suna and Oto invasion, I can't reveal more information about that. It's one of those "writer keeps it in the dark until _that_ moment" kind of things.

Heck no. There is no pedophilia or anything gross like it! Unless you could Gai and Lee…you never know with them. Jk I will have a list of ages at the end of this chapter.

I also tried to write this chapter out differently by separating the words spoken by the characters. Tell me what you think about the new formatting.

Thanks for your review!

**A Thanks to all of my readers, and a Special Thanks to those of you who took the time to write a review!**

**I hope all of you enjoy this next chapter of **_**Naruto: the Sealed**_

**In the Forest…**

Naruto watched as the boy blacked out. "_Oh no! Is he alright!?"_

Naruto got down on his knees and put his fingers to Konohamaru's wrist, checking for a pulse. It was faint, but it was there. Naruto was glad that the boy was alive…but….wait….what was he doing here?

"_Huh!?" _was the only thought running through his head now as he began turn his from side to side, surveying the forest clearing.

"What the hell!?" he exclaimed, trying to get his bearings and attempting to grasp where he was. The blonde noticed the forehead protector on the boy he had just saved. Judging from the Leaf emblem on the protector, he figured the obvious…that the boy was an ally. Naruto reached for the boy's right arm and right leg, wanting to hoist him up so he could carry him to the village….wherever it was. However, as he leaned in to pick the boy up, he felt a hard thud to the back of his neck. He felt his legs buckle in weakness as they gave out moments later. Naruto figured he missed one of the enemy nin.

"_Kuso…."_ he thought as his world went black once again.

The dog masked man stood side to side with the Oto nin. Raomu looked down at his abdomen, a small dagger being embedded into his stomach. Blood darkened his thick shirt as the Anbu patrol took the weapon out of the Sound nin's stomach. Raomu fell to the ground, his heart beating into nothingness, dying only seconds later. The Anbu, though having been fresh in the fight, sported a wound on his non-weapon arm.

"Ebisu-san…" said the Anbu. "Collect your team and return to town."

Ebisu's eyes narrowed. "I'm missing two of my students!" replied the jounin sensei, worry apparent in the tone of his voice. In response, the Anbu merely pointed to a spot behind Ebisu. As Ebisu and Udon turned to match the angle the finger was pointing in, they noticed three people coming toward them from the shadows of the trees. As the figures drew closer, Ebisu and Udon recognized one of them as Moegi. The jounin sensei noticed the cuts and bruises along her body, signifying that she had been roughed up a bit. The other two figures were Anbu, each carrying a boy on their back. Ebisu's face brightened as he saw that Konohamaru was one of the boys. However, that smile quickly faded when he noticed all of his sustained injuries.

"They're alive Ebisu-san." said one of the Anbu, the one holding Konohamaru. Ebisu's face softened slightly at this news, although it didn't last for long. "However…" continued the Anbu, one wearing a panther mask. "His injuries, added with his chakra exhaustion, could endanger his life if not taken care of properly." Ebisu's face returned to its original contortion. The jounin wondered what the boy could have done to sustain those kinds of injuries.

"Now that you understand the situation, I'll be taking Konohamaru-san to the hospital." With that being said, the Anbu dashed away toward the main gates of Konoha.

Ebisu looked at his students. He hadn't expected to confront a situation so problematic. If this mission were to be classified correctly, it would be A-ranked. Of course, they had already finished their mission in Suna. The four ninja were to help with Suna's academy training program, in hopes of strengthening it. They had a successful mission and had just passed the border between the Earth and Fire countries. Not long after, they had been ambushed by the several Oto nin. The total number was five if Ebisu remembered correctly.

To think that they would have died if it hadn't been for the Anbu intervening. He looked at Moegi and Udon.

"_At least they're safe….but…."_ he thought, but was interrupted from his troubles when he heard a voice coming from another Anbu, one carrying a boy with blonde hair.

"Ebisu-san, is this one of your students?" asked the masked ninja.

Ebisu looked at the boy, raising an eyebrow. "No, he isn't. I only have three students, and those three are Moegi, Udon, and Konohamaru." answered the jounin sensei. "Come to think of it….who is that boy?" asked Ebisu.

"I found him leaning over Konohamaru-san when I arrived. Both your student as well as an Oto nin seemed to be heavily injured." replied the Anbu. In response to this, Ebisu's eyes widened.

"What do you mean!? Is that boy one of the Sound nin!? We need to question him now!"

"Ebisu-san, I knocked the boy out, so that is not a possibility at the time being. Besides, he wears a Konoha forehead protector, so I don't believe he is allied with Otogakure. Although, I did knock him out as a precaution. I'm going to bring him back to the interrogation unit. I will also bring this to the Sandaime's attention."

The man left the scene, running with the blonde on his back, following the same route the Anbu nin holding Konohamaru had taken. The remaining Anbu nin, Ebisu, Moegi, and Udon headed back to Konoha shortly afterward, all injured to some extent.

**Konoha – Interrogation Unit Sector B**

Heavy eyes opened at the sound of a door being closed with a moderate amount of force. Naruto heard some footsteps to his right, there echoes reverberating throughout the room he was in. Attempting to get up, he found himself locked in place. The footsteps stopped for a moment, leaving the boy to panic. Was he going to die?

Suddenly, a bright light glimmered in front of him, making him involuntarily squint his eyes at the excessive brightness.

"What is your name?" he heard being asked to him, only three or four seconds after the light had been turned on. The question hadn't clicked inside of Naruto's mind, his thoughts currently along the lines of escape.

"What is your name?" repeated a man of perhaps forty years of age by the sound of his voice.

This time Naruto heard the question.

"N-Naruto…" answered the blonde quietly.

"Naruto…? What is your last name?" asked the man, his voice taking a curious, yet more rigid tone.

"Uzumaki….Uzumaki Naruto…" answered Kyuubi's jailer. If Naruto had been able to see the man, he would have noticed his eyes widen into large twin orbs. The man, however, was hidden in the shadows of the interrogation room.

The man cleared his throat and continued with his interrogation. "Uzumaki Naruto, I will now ask you a few questions. If I feel you are being dishonest in how you answer these questions, there are few options left, the most compassionate option being death." The older man chuckled. "Do we have an understanding?"

Naruto nodded his head vigorously, especially after hearing "death."

"Good. First, what village are you from?" asked the older man.

"Konohagakure." Answered the short blonde.

"Nonsense. We don't have you on our files."

"Wh-what do you mean? My name is Uzumaki Naruto! Am I in Konoha?" he asked.

The older man chuckled. "You are in no position to be asking questions…"

"LET ME OUT DAMNIT!" yelled the boy, obviously more angered then fearful about his predicament at this point.

"…nor are you in a position to be giving me orders gaki!" yelled the man in return, "If I have to, I'll cut your fingers off one by one until you answer my questions brat." This quelled Naruto's speech for the moment, his fear making a nice little pit in his stomach.

"Answer me. Why are you using the identity of a kid who apparently disappeared five years ago. There was only one person under the name of 'Uzumaki Naruto' in Konoha. He was twelve at that time, meaning if he were to show up today, he would be at least seventeen years old! WHO ARE YOU? Answer!"

Naruto looked up at where the figure was located, a confused expression apparent on his voice. His eyes quickly narrowed at the older man.

"I TOLD YOU ALREADY! I AM NARUTO! ME! AND IF YOU WANT ME TO PROVE IT TO YOU, BRING THAT OLD MAN DOWN HERE!" yelled the blonde in return.

The interrogator, a certain Morino Ibiki, raised an eyebrow at these words.

"…Old man?" asked the Jounin. "Who are you talking about?"

"Hokage-ojiisan!" replied the boy. Ibiki raised an eyebrow at how the young blonde seemed familiar with the Sandaime. He opened his mouth to speak, but a knock at the door behind him interceded.

"Ibiki-san!" said a voice from the other side of the door. "Please come here! I have something to show you!"

Ibiki grunted as he began to walk to the door, but not without giving Naruto a _pleasant_ glare. After the man stepped through the door, closing it behind him, Naruto was left in silence once again. That is, until he heard a loud "WHHHAAAAAT!?" outside the supposed sound-proof door.

**Hokage's Office**

One certain "old man" had just been told that a "little brat" was on his way to see him. If this were a few years or so ago, he would have figured this brat to be Konohamaru. But that wasn't the case.

The Sandaime sat at his desk, shuffling through the bane of the role of kage; paperwork. He inhaled lightly on his pipe, taking the pipe out and exhaling some smoke.

"…_So…he claims to be Naruto, eh?"_ wondered Sarutobi, musing in his own thoughts. It was no sooner when he heard a commotion outside of his office.

"HEY GAKI! Stop acting like a moron!" yelled a man whom the Sandaime figured to be Ibiki. The kage of the leaf let a sad smile rest on his lips as he heard the boy yell out, "I WANT TO SEE THAT OLD MAN! NOW!" It had been a while since he had heard anything like that. It was less than a second later that the door to his office slammed open, revealing a short blonde kid, probably around twelve or thirteen years of age, handcuffed and led around by Morino Ibiki, interrogation and torture specialist at Konoha.

"Damnit you brat!" snapped Ibiki. "Don't go kicking open doors!"

"SHUT UP OLD TIMER!" returned the boy. "WHEN I BECOME HOKAGE, I'LL MAKE SURE YOU ACKNOWLEDGE ME!"

The Sandaime's eyes widened at seeing this Naruto look-alike. For a moment, Sarutobi even wanted to believe that it really was Naruto…but that couldn't be….the boy looked the same as when he disappeared. It couldn't possibly be the same kid.

Following Naruto and Ibiki was another man who appeared to be a medic nin. He was in the routine white hospital attire. The man closed the door behind them and walked up to the Sandaime, setting a small stack of papers on his desk.

"_I really hope this isn't going to involve me filling out more paperwork…"_ mused the Hokage with dread as he watched the papers being put down onto his desk, held together in a plain black folder.

"Hello Ibiki-san. I'm guessing the reason you're here is because of him!" said the kage of the leaf, pointing at the young blonde. With a small nod of his head, Ibiki confirmed the statement.

"Hokage-sama, if I may?" The old man signaled for the man to begin his debriefing with a short wave of his hand. Understanding the signal, Ibiki continued.

"I sent a message to you earlier in reference to this child. As stated in my message, he claims to be Uzumaki Naruto…" Sarutobi nodded to confirm that he received the message.

"As a precaution, we took a blood sample. That folder contains information of Uzumaki Naruto, as well as from this boy's sample. If you'd please take a look inside…"

The Hokage complied, opening the folder to reveal a short stack of papers, each seeming to contain the medical records of Uzumaki Naruto. The top file was the blood sample just taken from the boy. The Sandaime placed the file to the side of the other data. His eyes began to the documents over. As the old man looked over the information, it didn't take more than ten seconds for his eyes to become as wide as saucers.

"I-Ibiki…! Are the records correct!?" exclaimed the Hokage, almost jumping out of his seat. Ibiki nodded to the medic nin present with the other three in the room. The medic nin nodded to the Sandaime.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. Two other medics and I checked the records not once, nor twice, but three times. We compared the records, and that data is the result."

Naruto looked at the three men with a dumbfounded expression. "Hey old man! What's going on!?" demanded the demon container.

The other three looked at Naruto as the kage of the leaf answered. "Y-you're really Naruto…? These records are showing a blood match…"

In response, a deadpanned face looked at the much older man. "THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING, SO WHY THE HELL AM I STILL HANDCUFFED!?" he said with his characteristic level of loudness.

"_It has to be him…the records match at 99.4 percent…"_ thought Sarutobi. _"..but wait…."_

"Naruto, five years has gone by since you disappeared. What happened? Why do you look the same?" asked the Hokage.

Naruto looked at the old man like he had lost his mind. "Eh?"

"_It couldn't be a jutsu…I'm not aware of any technique that allows the user to replicate the exact DNA and anatomical structure of a person…that would be the same as making clones in a laboratory…That sounds like Orochimaru."_ he contemplated, casting a quick reflection back on his former student.

"Naruto….tell me. Where have you been these past five years?" questioned the Third Hokage.

"Past….five years?" repeated the boy who was about eye level with the Third while sitting. "What do you mean? The last thing I remember…..wait…" Naruto began to scratch his head until his eyes widened. "CAT! THE CAT TALKED!" he yelled out without warning.

The three other ninja in the room just looked at him with a blank expression on their faces, all wondering the same thing…_"Huh?"_

The blonde boy abruptly gasped as something dawned on him. "OH NO! I'M GOING TO BE LATE FOR THE ACADEMY! I'M SUPPOSED TO MEET WITH MY TEAM!"

"Naruto, calm down. Do you remember what happened in the forest not long ago?"

Naruto put a hand to his chin, taking on a pensive expression. "You mean the guy who being attacked by that older ninja?" asked Naruto. The Sandaime merely nodded his head.

"That other boy was my grandson, Konohamaru. He said he saw you come out of a tree…Do you recall what happened at all?"

Naruto shook his head. "I remember waking up in the forest and seeing that other kid getting attacked…so I decided to help. But that's not important right now! What's important is me getting to my team!" he replied, exclaiming that last part.

Sarutobi sighed in exasperation. _"This is definitely Naruto…What Konohamaru Naruto have been sealed away? I've never heard of such a thing as an actual person being sealed into a solid object like that. Perhaps Minato could have done it….but who else could have had the capability of performing such a high-class sealing jutsu?"_

The old kage stared at the boy for a few moments. "Naruto…you're not going to like this…"

Naruto audibly gulped at the tone in the old man's voice. "Wh…what? What's….going on?" he asked nervously.

"You….you went missing five years ago. The team you were supposed to be with….Uchiha Sasuke….Haruno Sakura…and jounin sensei Kakashi…that was all supposed to happen five years ago, but you went missing. All your classmates from the academy are all in the later teens, most of which at the age of seventeen. All of your old classmates have either become chuunin or jounin."

"Shocked" couldn't describe what Naruto looked like at this moment. His mouth hung down to the floor and his eyes stuck out like pictures in a pop-up book. "Heh…heh…..heh….ojiisan….you're kidding….right?" the boy asked as he began to sweat bullets.

"I'm sorry Naruto….but I'm completely serious." said Sarutobi with a frown.

Naruto looked down at the ground. "Kussooo….." he murmured to himself, cursing the luck he seemed to always have.

"I'll get your old apartment back for you…and you will be reinstated as a Konoha citizen. As far as continuing with being a ninja…that's your choice…but I do hope you don't quit. I won't lie….It will be tough…"

Naruto looked down at the ground, his face hidden from the other three present in the room.

"_Naruto…he's really shaken up…It's understandable….anyone he could have possibly called a friend has passed him over. He won't know anyone in the academy, nor on his genin team…Naruto…"_ thought the Sandaime sadly. But those thoughts were soon changed when he heard some chuckling coming from the blonde preteen…

"I'M NOT GIVING UP! JUST BECAUSE IT'S TOUGH, IT DOESN'T MEAN I SHOULD QUIT! I CAN'T QUIT, BECAUSE I'VE DECIDED TO BECOME HOKAGE AND HAVE EVERYONE RECOGNIZE ME! AND I DON'T TAKE BACK MY WORDS! THAT'S MY NINDO!" yelled Naruto, nearly popping the ear drums of the Sandaime, Morino Ibiki, and the medic nin present in the room. Sarutobi smiled at Naruto's enthusiasm.

"Then you will also be reinstated as a ninja. You've already passed the test to become a genin, plus Konohamaru told me about how you fought off that Oto nin, similar to win you defeated Mizuki." The kage of the leaf paused, shuffling through some paperwork. "The genin exams for this year's rookies is a month from now. I will have you added into Iruka-sensei's class. I'm sure he'll be quite thrilled to have you back!"

Naruto's eyes brightened at the prospect of being with Iruka again.

"Oh, and Ibiki…why don't you release the prisoner?" added Sarutobi with some humor, pointing at the handcuffs clasped onto Naruto's hands. With a nod, Ibiki took out a key and unlocked the cuffs, freeing Naruto.

"Dismissed." said the old man. The medic nin left, and Ibiki and Naruto were soon to follow. "And Naruto…." Added Sarutobi as Naruto was leaving. "It's good to have you back!"

Naruto gave his trademark foxy grin to the old Hokage. After Ibiki shut the door to the kage's office, the Sandaime continued with his work, pulling out the files from the current academy students.

"_What team should Naruto be with…?"_ he mused.

**Council Chambers – 9:30 pm**

The Hokage had sent out a special notice for the Konoha council to convene. The Sandaime had informed the council members through his message couriers that the meeting was of utmost importance. Earlier that afternoon, the Hokage had been reunited with a certain blonde by the name of Uzumaki Naruto. It was a pleasant surprise to see Naruto, but the boy was the same age as when he disappeared. Sarutobi was sure that Naruto would be quick to throw a fit over his friends being stronger than him, but then again, the Hokage was certain that Naruto would vow to surpass them all and go on his way to becoming Hokage, just like he had always said.

The Sandaime was now present before the councilmen, many elders of various clans, others were battle-worn shinobi that were in charge over various sectors of Konoha, such as Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu. The Hokage looked over the various council members. The councilmen present were Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, Hyuuga Hiashi, Aburame Shibi, Yamanaka Inoichi, Akimichi Chouza, Nara Shikaku, Inuzuka Kiba, and a few others. Taking the tone of a true leader, Sarutobi commenced the meeting.

"Good evening. I apologize for having to call each of you on such short notice, but a matter of importance has come up." he began, eyeing the people before him.

"What is this about?" questioned Homura.

"You are well aware of the case of Uzumaki Naruto and his disappearance five years ago…"

Koharu raised an eyebrow. "The demon brat again? Sarutobi, we thought this was settled." Homura shared in her sentiments.

The Sandaime narrowed his eyes at eyes at the two. They were once a genin team together, but throughout the course of war and politics, they became distant, and sometimes politically opposed to one another.

"Well, the issue hasn't been settled." He paused, gaining questioning looks from the council members.

"Naruto has been located." he stated, shocked faces al around the room.

"Where is he located Hokage-sama?" questioned Aburame Shibi, head of the Aburame clan, almost uncharacteristically.

"Here in Konoha." replied the Sandaime, shocking the group even further.

"WHAT?!" yelled an enraged Homura. "Why is he here!? You _do_ realize that he is a missing-nin of this village. He must be punished immediately!"

"I agree!" added Koharu. "We don't know where the boy has been, nor have we the knowledge of how he has developed. I'm sure the seal has weakened by now! Al-"

Koharu was cut off by an "Enough!" coming from the Hokage. "It is true that he has been gone for five years…but will not be considered a criminal."

Some of the council members' faces contorted in anger, mainly those who still held grudges against Naruto for the Kyuubi's attack nearly seventeen years ago.

"There are circumstances that have led me to believe that there were outside forces involved, although I'm not certain as to the degree of involvement."

"What makes you think that Sarutobi?" questioned Homura, a hint of bitterness in his old, dry voice.

"My grandson Konohamaru was the first to see Naruto in these past five years, at least to my knowledge. According to grandson, Naruto had been inside of a tree when he and an Oto nin stumbled across him…." He paused for a brief moment, taking in the atmosphere of confusion among the other members of the council. "Sounds odd, eh?" asked the Sandaime. "I am led to believe that Naruto was sealed away, thus he did not run away on his own volition."

The council thought about what the Third was telling them. Homura responded quickly, just as Sarutobi had expected. "What evidence is there to support this little 'sealing' theory? You cannot simply trust the words of a young genin, even if he is your grandson."

The Sandaime smirked. "Would it help to know that Naruto hasn't changed a bit since five years ago? He was in my office earlier this afternoon. He is the same height., the blood samples matched, the seal containing the Kyuubi is present on his stomach, and he even has that same silly childish face. We have performed a detailed examination on Naruto. He still has the body of a twelve year old…No, he still _is_ a twelve year old."

Nara Shikaku rubbed his chin as he leaned against the chair in his spot at the council table. "Hokage-sama, could this be related to the disruption of Akatsuki's goals?"

"I believe so." Answered the Hokage. "As well all know, the Akatsuki has been hunting down jinchuuriki all across the world. However, it seems as though their plans have been put on a temporary hiatus. With Naruto's disappearance, Akatsuki has not been able to collect the Kyuubi. My sources also say that Naruto wasn't the only jinchuuriki who disappeared in such a manner, although that cannot be confirmed at this moment." The Sandaime eyed the other men and women of the council in the chamber. Most were on the same line of thinking as the Hokage.

"So…what you're saying is that there is someone else out there….maybe even another group…and that this force is working against Akatsuki?" presumed Inoichi.

"I believe so, yes…Over the years, Akatsuki has been effective in carrying out its plans. Each member is powerful, being anywhere from the level of jounin to the caliber of a kage. Each one of them has abilities that make them special. An example would be Uchiha Itachi, the missing nin from out very own Konoha. Even I would have difficult against him, and that's just one example." The old man stood up, his hands against the council table, carrying some of his voice as he thought through the situation. "It's strange to think that Akatsuki, an organization with members of such a high caliber, would take so long in their plans. I attribute this to something working against them. However, whether or not this opposing force is friend or foe is yet to be known."

The council now brooded over all that was discussed. There were three different subjects t hat were addressed, and they were under a strong impression that these matters were somehow related to each other. Naruto's return, Akatsuki, and an unknown force that seemed to be opposed to Akatsuki…Each of these were heavy issues, but the issue that had the councilmen most concerned was the latter. What was this faction against the Akatsuki…could it even be called a "faction"….or did it even exist at all? All these questions raced through the council members' minds.

A cough interrupted their thoughts as the Sandaime spoke again. "I realize that all of this is a lot to swallow in one sitting…but first thing is first. I have decided to reinstate Uzumaki Naruto as a Konoha academy student. He has already passed the expectations of the academy final exam, so I am restoring his status to a genin. He will, however, return to the academy and spend the remaining duration of the year with the students of his grade. I will be assigning him a team like any normal kids of his age."

The Sandaime began to hear grumbling in response to this decision.

Homura snapped at the man, "You're endangering those children with that kid around! We don't know if the seal has been tampered with or not!"

"I assure you Homura-san, the seal has not been weakened at all. I checked the seal myself." Of course, this was technically a half-truth. The Sandaime had noticed a couple of small changes to Naruto due to sealing techniques, thus causing the evidence to stack even higher regarding an organization against Akatsuki….that or against jinchuuriki. "Besides, I will have Naruto under surveillance for this next month, to make sure there isn't anything fishy about him."

"Who are you assigning to keep an eye on him?" questioned Koharu.

"Four Anbu, each taking six hour shifts to watch the boy throughout the day."

A few of the council members sighed in resignation on the subject. "Fine." said Homura. "….but if anything goes wrong, we must lock him up."

"I understand." replied the Hokage. "And that is all. Unless there are any questions, this meeting is adjourned."

The council members each got up out of their respective seats. Each man and woman filed out of the council chamber, heading back home with much to contemplate. The Sandaime was the last to leave, his mind dwelling on this _invisible hand_ that was moving in the shinobi world.

"_Could this be related to that man…?"_ thought the Hokage, walking to his bedroom in the Hokage Tower to retire for the night.

**Konoha Academy – One Day Later**

The two walked side by side down the hallway. To Naruto, it felt like he had been here two days ago…well…technically he _had_ been there two days ago, at least according to his memory. The boy still didn't understand what the Hokage had told him. Had he really been sealed away?

"We're here." said the voice of the Hokage, interrupting his thoughts.

Naruto audibly gulped. "Ojiisan…I won't know anyone in there…" he voiced, his hands shaking with slight nervousness. He wasn't sure why, but no one ever seemed to want to be his friend, with the exception of the Hokage, Iruka, Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku's Ramen, and his daughter Ayame. However, none of them were in his age bracket.

"Don't worry, Naruto…" replied the old man, attempting to comfort the boy. "I think you'll be able to make friends in no time…I'm sure things will be different." He gave a grandfatherly smile to the young blonde, letting the boy know everything would be alright. "Ready?"

Naruto closed his eyes, trying to focus on not being nervous. When he opened his eyes, they were completely different. "LET'S DO THIS!" he yelled with high spirits.

The Hokage opened the door.

**Iruka's class…**

"…Yes, that is correct….but more specifically, the reason the First Hokage got his position was because of his ability to use Mokuton jutsu." Iruka stopped speaking for a moment, his body seeming somewhat tense. The reason for this anxiety was the fact that he had been told a certain old student of his would be returning after being gone for nearly five years.

"Sensei." Interrupted a girl in the class room. "I have a question."

"Yes?" asked Iruka in response, glad that the little girl had saved him from being drowned in his private musings.

"Can other ninja use Mokuton jutsu?" asked the girl.

"No Mai. To my knowledge, the only person ever capable of performing the wood elemental techniques was the Shodaime." He paused, waiting to see if there were anymore questions. Seeing that there were none, he continued. "Well, now that we have covered a brief history of the Shodaime and his time as Hokage, let's discuss the Nidaime. The Nidaime was particularly known for his mastery of mizu jutsu. He became the Hokage when the-" Iruka was cut off as he heard a loud and obnoxious voice through the door connecting the classroom to the hallway. Just a moment later, the door to the classroom opened, revealing two people standing on the other side.

The entire class immediately became interested in the person who let out such an earth shattering scream of joy. Their eyes zeroed in on two people. The taller of the two the class quickly recognized as the Sandaime, Third Hokage of Konoha. He wore his standard Hokage uniform and Hokage hat with the kanji of "Fire" written on it. Next to the Hokage was a boy the others didn't know, although his face seemed vaguely familiar, as if they had seen him in a picture or if he had been part of a memory of their childhood. However, most of the academy students either did not remember the boy, or they just shrugged the familiar feeling off, waving it as something unimportant. The boy, they noticed, loved orange. In fact, there was so much orange on him that most of the kids immediately went on a first impression, failing to take him seriously as a ninja.

"_What's up with that kid? Is he wanting to be a ninja?"_ thought one of the boys in the class. He saw the blonde give the class a goofy smile. _"Idiot…he's going to get himself killed in no time."_ This particular boy felt upset when Naruto entered the room, already being set against the orange-clad blonde. If it weren't for the death of his father several years ago, perhaps he would have been different. However, life isn't so easy. He had been sent to Konoha from Wave Country in order to receive ninja training in order to protect himself.

Iruka had awaited this moment. He dearly missed his favorite blonde, and here the boy was, standing before him. "Naruto…" he muttered quietly. He felt tears starting to form in his eyes. He thought he had lost his little brother figure. He forced his tears back and put on the widest grin he could manage. "It's could to see you, Naruto!" he said happily, gaining an audience of curious gazes at both Iruka and Naruto.

The Sandaime looked at Iruka with a smile that seemed to say, "I know how you feel."

"Iruka-sensei, I trust you will watch over Naruto's arrangements." whispered the Hokage to the leaf Chuunin.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" replied Iruka with enthusiasm, although at the same volume as the Hokage's voice.

The Hokage smiled once more at the ecstatic Naruto who was making glances all around the room, wondering if anyone would want to be his friend. _"It's good to have you back, Naruto…"_ thought the Sandaime as he left the classroom, heading out of the academy to get back to what he dreaded most: paperwork.

"Naruto." called out Iruka. "Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?"

Naruto nodded eagerly, going to center stage in preparation of his introduction. He looked over at everyone, giving them all his trademark foxy grin.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I love ramen and training! And someday…" His grin grew even wider, if at all possible. "I'm going to become the greatest Hokage of all!" he exclaimed triumphantly.

"Fool…" responded one of the boys in the class. The boy was wearing a fishing hat that concealed most of his brown hair. "You're just going to get yourself killed."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched, his feet getting ready to move him so that he could pummel the other boy. However, Iruka's voice intercepted his future plans. "Inari! Don't treat a new student with such disrespect! We've talked about this before!" Iruka had cut in, stopping the Wave Country boy's insults.

"Tch..." was Inari's only response. No one really knew what had happened to him, but they at least knew that _something_ _did_ happen back at his home in Wave Country that caused him to become bitter.

"Thank you Naruto for that introduction. Why don't you take a seat next to Akako." said Iruka, pointing at a boy with red hair who was seated on the third row table on the teacher's left hand side of the room. Naruto complied, walking up the aisle in between the two sets of rows in the classroom. Naruto made it to the row the row the boy was sitting at. As he got to his seat and sat down, he leaned over to the boy with red hair.

"Hi! I'm Naruto! What's your name?" asked the blonde.

Akako raised an eyebrow. "Akako." replied the boy. "…like Iruka-sensei said." The boy looked at Naruto with an inspecting glance.

"What is it?" asked Naruto, wondering if there was something on his face.

"I'm sorry. It's just…I don't think I've ever seen a ninja or ninja-hopeful wear…that shade of orange." He said bluntly, making Naruto want to slap the boy upside the head.

"The reason I wear orange is because…" Naruto got into imagination mode, a gleam in his eyes. "…because when my enemies meet me at the battle field, they're going to need all the help they can get!" This didn't really register in Akako's head. He figured Naruto was saying that the "help" his enemies needed was in spotting the boy.

Akako sweatdropped. "NARUTO!" yelled out Iruka. "STOP PLAYING AROUND! YOU HAVE A MONTH LEFT, SO YOU'D BETTER BEHAVE!" Naruto whined at these words.

"_Ahhhhh…..That felt good. It's nice to have Naruto around again. He was always my favorite to yell at."_ thought Iruka with a smug grin. You know how sadists are.

**Training Grounds – Three Days Later**

The Sandaime stood in the grassy field of training ground nine. The area had a stream running straight through it, dividing the field into two even sections. The night before, Sarutobi figured out more about the new seals on Naruto. Well, he actually was only able to understand one of the them, and that was the one around the seal containing the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The seal was designed to improve the conversion of the nine tails' chakra into Naruto's own chakra. In other words, the process would run more effectively. The Sandaime believed that the seal was somehow active while Naruto had been sealed. Although it was still the same Naruto, the boy's own chakra reserves had become enormous. As for the other seals, the Hokage was still unaware of their meaning.

The Sandaime looked at the boy was standing with him with a feint smile. The boy was still grinning as usual, no doubt due to the mention of training. But still….how could he smile?

"Naruto, it seems that you are happy." said the older man. "I thought this would have been much harder on you."

Naruto stared into the eyes of the Kage of the leaf. For a second, they showed a glimpse of the pain he was still feeling. He matched the old man's smile. "Ojiisan…the other kids like me. They are much more friendly than when I was at the academy before….especially more than Sasuke-teme!" the boy replied, exclaiming that last part.

Sarutobi chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm. "Hn? You _do_ know that all of the kids from your class are chuunin or higher now, right?" he informed the young blonde, whom now had a mouth hanging down to the ground. "Not only that...but Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and _Uchiha Sasuke_ are all jounin!'

Naruto now gawked at the man. He brought his head down, his eyes shielded from line of sight by the bangs of his hair. "They're…that strong….now?" he muttered, his voice barely audible.

"Yes." confirmed Sarutobi. "They have all become very strong. They are excellent shinobi." Naruto's fists began to shake. _"Is he angry?"_ wondered the man.

Naruto lifted his head slowly until making contact with the Sandaime Hokage. "Ojiisan…I…I will…." Naruto suddenly brought his fist up straight in the air toward Sarutobi. "I will surpass them all….and become Hokage!"

The old man smirked. _"I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Naruto!"_ he mused happily. "Very well." he spoke aloud. "Then, during these next few weeks, you will be training. You have already qualified to be placed onto a genin team of three under a jounin sensei."

"Eh? Three?" questioned the blonde.

"Yes, Naruto. New genin are usually placed in teams of three under a jounin sensei." The Hokage held his hand up into the air. "I have arranged that you be trained under a certain man until you are assigned a team."

"A certain man? Who!? Is it Iruka-sensei!?" asked Naruto excitedly.

Sarutobi chuckled. "You can come out now!" spoke the Hokage aloud. As soon as the old man had said those words, a rustle was heard from the bushes. When Naruto looked over, the man was already in front of him, a mere twenty centimeters away. "This is Kakashi-sensei. You will be placed into a new team in about three and a half weeks…however...he will be helping you with your training even afterward. If your dream is to become Hokage and possibly catch up to your old classmates, then you're going to need to work hard."

Naruto looked up at the man before him. This "Kakashi-sensei" had silver hair that stood up, making him look like a scarecrow. His left eye was covered by his forehead protector, the leaf symbol etched on it. He also had a mask covering the bottom half of his face, going up to just above his nose.

Naruto smirked. _"I'll do it…I'll become stronger than everyone…and then I'll become Hokage!"_

Kakashi looked at the boy. _"He's grown up in an interesting way…he wants to become Hokage, eh?_" The silver-haired jounin sent the boy a feint smile. _"Sensei…"_

**Author's Notes**

The council has a lot to think about, Sarutobi still does not understand all of Naruto's seals, and Naruto has begun his training once again!

I'm sorry this chapter didn't have much action in it. But it was necessary. I hope the end sounded okay, since I just finished it...and right now, I'm exhausted:-P

As always, let me know what you think! Please offer any input you see as necessary! Also, is the new writing formatting easier to read?

Thank you for reading! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! Stay tuned in for the next chapter of _Naruto: The Sealed!_

**List of Character Ages After Time-Skip:**

Naruto – 12

Iruka – 31

Kakashi – 31

Konohamaru – 13

Moegi – 13

Udon – 13

Sasuke – 17

Sakura – 17

Kiba – 17

Shino – 17

Hinata – 17

Shikamaru – 17

Chouji – 17

Ino – 17

Sandaime (Third) Hokage – 72

Mai – 12

Akako – 12

Inari – 12

Ebisu – 32

Gin – 34

Fuyu – N/A

All other character ages will come later, either in the story or in the after-notes.

Thank you for reading! Be sure to review and let me know your thoughts!

And before I go to sleep…

Merry belated Christmas!


	4. The Rookies

**Naruto: The Sealed**

By: EleosLeonhart

Chapter 4: The Rookies

**Author's Notes** Hello everyone! It is now the New Year! I apologize for taking so long to get this last chapter out! For a while, I was at a mind block…again. Then I lost motivation, so I procrastinated this last chapter. But you should be happy to know that I regained my motivation while going through my notes. I sincerely hope that this chapter will be better than the previous three.

Also, I hope all of my reviewers who had questions of some sort received their replies. If they didn't just let me know!

**Arthain:** Thank you so much for the advice and help with editing. I tried my best to change the format so that the story looks and feels better to the reader. I am now using periods for page borders, since the borders weren't showing up before. I do not take criticism badly, as long as it isn't flaming. You were simply correcting me and helping to make this story become a better read. Again, many thanks!

A Thanks to all of my readers, and a Special Thanks to those of you who took the time to write a review!

I hope all of you enjoy this next chapter of_ Naruto: the Sealed!!!_

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**Training Grounds – Noon**

Where once three persons stood, now only two were present. As the two were left alone, a long silence ensued. The only sounds their ears could take refuge in were the chirping of birds and the movement of water in the stream that separated the training area into two halves.

Naruto looked at the silver-haired jounin questionably, feeling a bit uncomfortable under the deadening silence. Hatake Kakashi, who had been reminiscing in his past, mainly entertaining thoughts of his dead sensei, finally broke the quiet atmosphere with his voice.

"Hello Naruto," spoke Kakashi in his characteristic passive tone of voice. "My name is Hatake Kakashi, but you may refer to me as Kakashi-sensei." Kakashi paused for a moment, observing the boy's expression. Even though Naruto was now part of a different time, he was still as confident as ever. That much was evident in the determination glowing from his eyes. "Originally," Kakashi continued, "I was assigned to be your jounin sensei. If you hadn't disappeared, you would have been placed in a team along with Haruno Sakura-"

Naruto's face brightened at the prospect of being on the same team as his first crush.

"-and Uchiha Sasuke."

The warm grin that was once plastered on his face was now erased, being replaced by a bitter frown. Maybe it wasn't so bad to be in a different time after all.

"So now," said the silver-haired elite jounin, interrupting the blonde from his rather loud thoughts. "We will be picking up from where we left off."

Naruto's face brightened. "Does that mean I'll be receiving personal training!?" exclaimed the boy, now entertaining thoughts about how he was the prodigy or pranksters and the ultimate ninja of his generation. His ego was beginning to inflate more by the second, and Kakashi could see it plain as day.

"Make no mistake, Naruto…" said Kakashi. "You, like all the other genin graduates, will be placed on a three-cell team, assigned under a jounin sensei. The reason I am training you is because you have already passed the academy graduation exam. Once the others graduate, you will be placed on your team." Although Kakashi said this, he couldn't help but smirk under his mask. Truth be told, he wanted to help Naruto reach his full potential. After all, he was the son of his sensei, despite the over-inflated ego. But that would change over time…

Or at least he hoped it would.

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**In a Cave Far Away…**

Ten figures were allotted together in a secluded cavern, the entrance of the cave sealed by an enormous boulder. Each person present wore long black cloaks with a red interior. On the exterior, red clouds are featured in the cloaks' design.

"What is the status of the missing jinchuuriki?" questioned one man with blonde hair who seemed to take a commanding tone with the one the question was directed to.

"The Ichibi, Kyuubi, and Schichibi are yet to be found. The Rokubi is hidden as well, although there were rumors of the jinchuuriki being in the islands south of Water Country." replied another, a female by the sound of the voice.

"Itachi, Kisame, the two of you will look into the Rokubi." said the man, his eyes portraying whirlpools as he looked over toward them. "Zetsu, Nobu, the two of you will head to Konoha. Kotone, Raiden, head to Suna. Jinchuuriki don't just disappear."

The others nodded in unison before disappearing. It was one of those rare meetings that weren't convened via holographic representation. Akatsuki was beginning to get frustrated over the fact that four of the nine jinchuuriki were nowhere to be found. They had already collected the other five, but for two and a half years, their plans had been put to an unwelcome halt.

"Deidara, find a lead on the Schichibi." he commanded, causing the blonde to scowl. With that Deidara, walked out of the cave. Tobi chuckled, skipping after his partner. Deidara was curious as to why Pein hadn't commanded anything of Tobi, but he left it alone. Pein was right after all. Time was becoming more pressing, and their plans were currently on a hiatus.

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**Southern Forest of Fire Country…**

"Akatsuki is on the move." spoke a man in the wilderness of Fire Country. He had red hair and green eyes and looked to be in his later thirties. Five others were present with the man, all here for an all-important meeting over the jinchuuriki and Akatsuki. "Are the seals still in place?" questioned that same man.

"I know for a fact that one of the jinchuuriki has become unsealed. The others' seals should be wearing down, assuming they haven't done so yet." answered another man, leaning against a tree with blonde hair. His eyes bathed in a bright red color.

"We can't keep sealing them forever." spoke a woman with brown hair and blue eyes. She looked to be the youngest of the people present. "We're going to have to fight Akatsuki."

The one who spoke first was now thinking deeply. "I wish it were that easy, but they already have five bijuu. What do you think, Kazuki?" he asked another man present. He seemed to be the same age as the woman who was against more jinchuuriki sealings. The man had black hair and dark brown eyes.

"It certainly is complicated," answered Kazuki truthfully. "but I think Miyu-chan is right. It would be better to fight Akatsuki now."

"Don't say my name with a 'chan'!" shot Miyu out at Kazuki. The latter just grinned, putting his hands up in defense.

"Akatsuki has ten members, all having the caliber of strength from elite jounin to kage. There are only five or six of us who could match them in one on one battles, and even then, victory would not be certain." retorted the man with red hair. He brought his fingers to his temples, massaging them as if he were attempting to medicate a headache.

"That's not the only problem," piped in the man with blonde hair who was still leaning against a tree. "There's also the snake man who's causing some trouble."

"What do you mean?" asked Miyu.

The blonde sighed. He was going to have a lot of explaining to do. "About Orochimaru…"

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**Konoha – Three and a Half Weeks Later**

He was tired and sweating like a pig. The past few weeks were filled with basic academy training, added with the training regimen that Kakashi had him in. Ever since day one, Kakashi had Naruto work on his chakra control. First, he had the young blonde attempt to climb trees, but with a small catch. The boy would only be allowed to climb using his feet. The silver-haired jounin had explained that it was commonly believed that the feet were the place most difficult to gather chakra. Since chakra capacity and chakra control were so important for using various kinds of techniques, the older man told Naruto that if he mastered this exercise, he would become stronger and more capable in using ninjutsu. This, of course, had Naruto jumping up and down at the prospect of being able to become stronger. After Kakashi's explanation and demonstration of the exercise, he left Naruto to his training.

It took a while, but after six days, Naruto finally got it down and had climbed the tallest tree near Konoha. After completing this task, Kakashi gave Naruto some of his old training weights from when he himself was chuunin. Kakashi had taken the chuunin exam at the age of six. He figured that his genin weights would be too light for the Naruto since the blonde was a much older and larger genin than he was. After Naruto put the weights on, the elite jounin began to instruct the Kyuubi container on taijutsu. Actually, this is what they spent the remainder of their time together doing, at least before the selection of the genin teams. Kakashi still helped Naruto with his chakra control, but the two usually spent their time going through basic katas and sparring. Kakashi noticed that when it came to hand-to-hand combat, Naruto's form and technique were sloppy. After correcting the boy wherever he saw fit, he began to see some improvement.

Everyday from three in the afternoon to eight at night, Naruto would train under the regimen Kakashi had set for him. After three and a half weeks of taijutsu training and additional chakra control exercises, Naruto's endurance, control, and hand-to-hand combat technique had all improved greatly. Of course, he was still at genin level, minus his chakra reserves and stamina. His current chakra capacity was easily at the level of jounin, but Kakashi had guessed that this was the result of being a jinchuuriki. The silver-haired man knew that as Naruto grew older and stronger, his chakra capacity would grow far past his own. Naruto's stamina was also above average. Kakashi guessed that his stamina was on par with low jounin. The reason Naruto's stamina was lower than his chakra capacity was because of his poor chakra control. Before they began their training, Naruto had the stamina of a low chuunin. The tree climbing method had definitely helped. However, even though his chakra reserves and stamina were so high in caliber, his other abilities were far lower. In every other regard, he was at a low genin level, although his taijutsu had been worked up to a higher-classed genin.

Now, after nearly a month of training, only two days remained until the assignment of the genin teams, tomorrow being the day the students would take their final exam at the academy…if they passed. Many conjectured that the genin-hopefuls of this year had a potential as great as the rookie nine from Naruto's original time. The most popular students of this graduating class were Hyuuga Hanabi, Ryuujin Akako, Kuramoto Inari, and Nara Mai.

Hanabi was said to be the prodigy of the Hyuuga main house. Her father, as well as many other ninja of the clan, believe that she possesses the same potential in her Byakugan as Neji, her older cousin.

Ryuujin Akako was considered a natural genius when he entered the academy. He excelled in everything, from written to physical exams. Unlike stereotypical ninja prodigies, he did not gloat over his excellence. He was one of the few people that did not make fun of students with lower grades, such as Naruto.

Kuramoto Inari did not belong to any particular clan. However, he was still considered a prodigy. According to the instructors at the academy, Inari possessed a large chakra potential for a normal person. His body was also beginning to grow large in comparison to many of his classmates, with the exception of those in the Akimichi clan. Inari was considered to have the most physical strength for a ninja with or without a clan in his class.

Nara Mai, like her older cousin Shikamaru, possessed a keen intellect and could often be found figuring out various puzzles or playing shougi. Small competitions were held for shougi, usually at parks, parlors, or anywhere else that drew old men to its location. Nara Shikaku, Shikamaru's father, Shikamaru, and Mai regularly joined in on the Shougi tournaments. However, much to Mai's dissatisfaction, Shikamaru usually won. Whenever Shikamaru lost, it was either by his father, or by an old man called Bodo, or as Mai put it, "Bodo-jiji." Although Mai was from the Nara clan, she was much different than her cousin and uncle. Her personality comes across as highly energetic and capable of causing quite the ruckus.

The other students of the class, with the exception of Inuzuka Koji and Uzumaki Naruto, all seemed to possess average of above average grades and skills. Indeed, the Konoha populace looked at this year's class with pride. Great things were expected of them in the ninja world.

After going back to old apartment, Naruto took a shower, getting rid of the dried sweat on his body. When he received his old set of keys from the Sandaime, Naruto, along with the Hokage himself, worked on restoring the boy's old home, saving it from the shabby shape it was in. After a nice fifteen-minute shower, Naruto got dressed in his pajamas and sleeping cap and went to bed. After a minute passed, he fell into a deep slumber.

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**Konoha Academy – 9:00 A.M.**

Late morning sunlight entered through the academy windows, reaching Naruto's closed eyelids. He tried to fall asleep at his desk, but he was much too excited at the prospect of being placed on his genin team soon. That day would be tomorrow. Today the students were to take their exams, the content of which were to be explained as soon as class began. Iruka shut the door to the classroom,

"Alright everyone! It's been a good year, but it's time for the exams! Each of you will be tested on an assortment of fields to show your ability as ninja. Your first test will be to successfully perform the Bunshin no Jutsu. If you create two or more _good_ bunshins, then you will receive a full score. If you can only make one _good_ bunshin, you will only receive half the credit for that part of the exam. If you make completely useless bunshins or no bunshins at all, you will receive a grade of zero for that portion of the exam. The bunshin no jutsu segment of the exam is worth thirty percent of your final grade. Does everyone understand?" After seeing the students nod, Iruka went on to explain the second test.

"The second part of the exam will be over your accuracy with projectiles, namely, kunai and shuriken. Each of you will receive three kunai and three shuriken. When it is time for that portion of the exam, the details of the point value system will be explained to you. This segment of the exam will also be worth thirty percent of your grade. Any questions?" Seeing that there were no questions, Iruka continued with the details of the final exam.

"The third portion of the exam will be a written test-"

Iruka was interrupted by a loud groan. Raising an eyebrow, he asked who had made the noise during his explanation of the exam. Most of the students pointed a blaming finger at Naruto. The young blonde just whistled under Iruka's scolding eyes. "Like I was saying, the third part of the exam will be a written test. There will be fifteen questions. Each question is worth two points, the overall test being worth thirty percent of your final grade, like the two tests before it. Any questions?" A couple of displeased flares, but no apparent confusion.

"The remaining ten percent of your exam grade will be based off of the approval of two of your instructors. These two instructors are Mozuku-sensei and yours truly. Any last questions?"

"What score do we need to pass?" asked Mai.

"You must possess a score of seventy percent or more. In other words, if one of you makes a grade of zero on one section of the exam, you'd better hope to make perfect scores in all other fields. Otherwise, you will fail. Anything else?" A hand went up. "Yes, Kaede?"

"What did you mean by the instructor approval part of the exam, Iruka-sensei?" Kaede asked with a mannered tone of voice.

"Good question." replied Iruka. "Mozuku-sensei and I will judge the last ten percent of your grade based on work ethic, potential, specific capabilities, and an overall impression that we get from you." A couple of eyes widened in the room.

"Are you saying that whether we pass or fail could be up to how you instructors _feel_ about us!?" growled Koji.

"Correct." responded Iruka with a smirk hanging across his face. "As a ninja, the impression you make on others, especially on clients and neighboring countries, will be extremely important. Certain qualities will be expected of you as a Konoha nin. We, as instructor, will be evaluating these qualities." A few in the room made audible gulps. "Now, let's move on to the exam. The order of those taking the exam will be organized alphabetically by first name. The class will be divided into four groups with six students in each group. The first group will be composed of Akako, Akio, Baki, Ban, Chika, and Gado. The second group will be Hanabi, Inari, Kaede, Koji, Koy, and Mai. Third group is Mokodo, Nao, Naruto, Nemu, Pachi, and Rose. The fourth and final group is Shuzo, Souko, Suki, Toki, Yetsuri, and Yuri." Iruka paused for a moment. "Does everyone know their group number?" he asked for confirmation. Seeing unanimous nods in the room, Iruka proceeded with the beginning of the exam. "You will have fifteen minutes for the first two stations, and thirty minutes for your written test." Iruka paused once more for carrying out the exam. "Group one, please follow Mozuku-sensei out the door. He will lead you to the first exam room in which you will perform the Bunshin no jutsu." Mozuku raised his hand up in the air to have the students come to him. Group one got up fro their seats and followed the instructor out of the room.

As Mozuku and the students left, another man came in. The man was young, perhaps seventeen or eighteen from his appearance, although he could pass for an older age because of the bored expression that always decorated his face. Iruka walked toward the door where the young man was located. "Everyone, this is Shikamaru-sensei. He will be watching over you while Mozuku-sensei and I grade the different segments of the exam." Naruto's eyes widened. Could it be the same Shikamaru?

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Two groups had already left for the exam. Naruto guessed that his group would be called soon. As he watched the click, he awaited Mozuku. The instructor always come in on time to the very second, or at least that's what Naruto figured. He hadn't been proved wrong so far. _"Three…two….one…"_ Naruto counted down mentally. Sure enough, the instructor came in right on the mark. "Group three, please come with me!" the man told the students.

Naruto groaned. _"Not only do I have to take a written test, but I have to perform my worst jutsu!"_ Then something clicked. _"What if I did that…?"_ he thought, keeping his musings to himself. It seemed he found a little loophole. But still, he would have to take the inescapable written exam. It seemed to Naruto that the qualifications for ninja were now higher. The blonde thought that he was exempt from the exam. After all, even Kakashi and the Sandaime Hokage said he wouldn't have to take it. Naruto figured Iruka had some kind of say in the matter and tweaked things around. However, unknown to Naruto, it was the Sandaime's doing. The council insisted that Naruto take the academy final exam over. There was also the matter of making it to where nothing looked out of place. If Naruto had been passed without taking the exam, the students would obviously ask questions, as would Mozuku and Shikamaru, whom did not know of Naruto's tenant. Mozuku was only six or so when the kyuubi attacked the village. His family had survived, plus he was never really connected to the blonde, other than seeing his artwork of the Hokage monument and various other pranks. Because of these things, the twenty-three year old jounin did not know that Naruto was a jinchuuriki.

Group three exited the classroom. As the six students left, Shikamaru observed them from the corner of his eye. He hadn't paid attention to the students until they left the room, unless they acted up in the classroom that is. As Shikamaru watched the students pass through the door into the hallway, his eye's widened slightly as he saw a blonde head. But what really got him was that the boy had what appeared to be whisker marks on his face. Combine that face with the fact that the "Reward" photos that were posted of Naruto being taken down from where they were once placed, and it seemed like…No, it couldn't have been. Whether it was or was not, Shikamaru was going to make sure to see the Hokage before the day was over.

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Group three now filed down the hallway, following after Mozuku. The older man came to a stop when he reached a door to their left. Reaching for the doorknob, he opened the last barrier between them and their first step in the ninja world. Now opened completely, the students walked inside. As Naruto walked through the door, he noticed Iruka sitting at a large desk with a nice load of paperwork on it. "You will be performing the bunshin no jutsu one at a time." Iruka informed the students. "First up, Mokodo!"

The young boy walked in front of the desk. Forming the reverse ram hand seal, Mokodo drew upon his chakra and performed the jutsu, creating two successful clones.

"Good job." Iruka told the boy, giving him a full score for this segment of the test. "Nao, you're up."

The girl did the same, coming up to the center. As she formed the hand seal and released her chakra, she created three good clones. Iruka also gave her a full score.

"Good job. Naruto, it's your turn." said Iruka with a smile.

Naruto smirked as he came up front before the desk. The smirk turned into his trademark foxy grin. Making a middle-index cross with his hands, he whispered, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu." The only ones who could hear Naruto were the two closest by him, those two being the instructors who were grading him. At the end result, Naruto made five shadow clones of himself. The students, of course, were highly surprised by this. Not only had he used a different hand seal for what they _thought_ was the same jutsu, but he had created five clones, whereas he could normally only create two useless ones.

Iruka smirked. "Great job. Next, Nemu."

Pachi and Rose weren't amazing when it came to the jutsu. Pachi created two fairly decent bunshins. She only got five points deducted. Rose did about average, making three clones of the same condition as Pachi. Since she made a third, what normally would have been a deduction due to the clones' condition was overlooked. However, Nemu did an amazing job. She created seven successful bunshins. It seemed she had excellent chakra control and could distribute her chakra where she needed. Her chakra control seemed to be on the level of high genin, perhaps even low chuunin. Both Iruka and Mozuku considered her to be a highly possible candidate to become a medic nin.

"All of you did great." said Iruka reassuringly. "Next is kunai and shuriken accuracy. After I'm done writing down some notes, we'll be on our way." The students became slightly on edge as they were sure Iruka was writing about them, which he was.

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Group three was now in a small field in the backyard of the academy. The area was designated as the official training ground for projectile weapons, kunai and shuriken specifically. There were ten dummies that were set up. There was a target on the chest and head of each dummy. There was also a table that Iruka was standing next to. "Alright everyone, grab three kunai and shuriken each. Then, you will line up at the six targets closest to me." The students did as he said, grabbing three of each projectile weapon. After doing so, they went to the six closest projectile lanes. "We will begin with the kunai. Mozuku-sensei and I will tell you when to throw your weapon. Keep in mind that the chest and head have different values. Each weapon you throw is worth five points. If you miss the dummy completely, you get a zero for that weapon which was thrown. If you hit the dummy, but neither target, you earn one point. Hitting the outer red circle of the target will get you two points. The white circle closer inside will give you three points. The white circle around the middle red circle will earn you four points. For five points, you must hit either the innermost white circle, or the red bull's eye. If you hit the bull's eye three times, you will be awarded one bonus point. If you hit it five times you will be awarded two bonus points. And if you hit the bull's eye all six times, three points will be added to your overall score.

With that being said, weapon number one, throw!" The students did as commanded.

After taking fifteen seconds to jot down some quick notes, Iruka gave Mozuku the okay to continue. "Second weapon, throw!" The same process was repeated. "Throw!"

"Alright students, we will now be moving to the shuriken." Iruka informed the group, nodding to Mozuku to give the commands.

After a minute had passed, the students had finished throwing the remaining projectiles. Taking another half a minute to work the numbers, Iruka told the students their scores. "Mokodo, twenty-eight points. Nao, twenty-four points. Naruto, twenty-nine points. Nemu, thirty-two points. Pachi, thirty-three points. And Rose, twenty-seven points." he informed the group. "You're all doing an excellent job. It's time to head to the room where the written exam is taking place."

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Now waiting outside a classroom door, the group Naruto was taking the exam with were getting ready to take the last segment of the exam. They heard movement from inside. Following the sound, the door opened, revealing the second group. The six students filed out of the room. All of them seemed to be wearing confident smiles, with the exception of Koji who was grimacing at the test. Naruto's group swapped places with the one Koji was in. Naruto patted Koji's shoulder as they walked past each other. Naruto and Koji had become fairly good friends, bound together by a simple thing: failure of written exams.

After the door closed, they were told to sit down by a young, large man of nearly the same age as Shikamaru. Naruto wondered if he had known him. " Yo! I am Akimichi Chouji, but while you're here, you'll have to refer to me by Chouji-sensei. I don't usually teach here, but I will be supervising you during this part of your exam." Truth be told, Shikamaru had asked him to come and watch over the students during this phase of the exam. The one who was supposed to be the proctor had become ill just the day before.

"_Hm….Chouji. That name sounds familiar."_ thought Naruto.

"Alright guys! Take a seat and…hold on." he said, cutting himself short as he pulled out a family-sized bag of potato chips. Taking small handfuls of the chips, he began to stuff his face. "Take a seat and let's get this show on the road" He stuffed his face yet again, munching away.

Naruto gasped. _"That's where I've seen him! He's lost some weight, but he's still a fat pig! Chouji! Fellow ramen-loving Chouji!"_ Naruto realized. Setting aside his brief amazement at how Chouji had grown up, Naruto went over to an empty desk and sat down. Chouji gathered some papers from the teacher's desk of the classroom. "This is your test. Once you have been given both your exam and your pencil, you may begin." Chouji went around the room, handing the six students their test and a pencil. When Chouji had given Naruto his test and pencil, he noticed there was something familiar about the blonde kid. But he ignored trying to think about it, instead taking a well-sized handful of potato chips up to his mouth, devouring them like a starved dog.

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A couple of hours had passed since the written exam had taken place. For once, Naruto thought that he answered some of the questions correctly, although he still wasn't sure of how he would do, he hoped he had enough to pass. Every group that had taken the exam had just finished lunch. It was now one o' clock in the afternoon and Iruka, Mozuku, Shikamaru, and Chouji had just entered the classroom. Iruka looked over the room filled with students. "I am pleased to announce…that all of you have passed the final! Congratulations!" said Iruka happily to the class. "Your grades have been posted outside. Good job. Class…dismissed!"

A wild cry of hurrahs and yippee's were heard as the students hurried out of the classroom to see their grades. As the students exited, Iruka couldn't have felt any more proud. "Iruka-sensei…." spoke Shikamaru. "About that blonde kid…"

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Outside, the students looked at the paper that held their scores. The grades are as follows…

Final Grades

1. Hanabi – 102

2. Akako – 101

3. Mai – 100

4. Nemu - 100

5. Inari – 97

6. Ban – 96

7. Koy – 93

8. Kaede – 90

9. Toki – 90

10. Yuri – 89

11. Akio – 89

12. Baki – 87

13. Shuzo – 87

14. Suki – 87

15. Nao – 86

16. Rose – 85

17. Chika – 84

18. Mokodo – 82

19. Yetsuri – 82

20. Souko – 80

21. Gado - 79

22. Koji – 76

23. Pachi – 75

24. Naruto - 73

The students that were there went wide-eyed. Four people had made it to at least one hundred. But what really surprised everyone was the fact that Naruto and Koji had passed. Usually, Pachi was found in the eighties. Some of the boys in the class began to fawn over Hanabi and Nemu for making such high grades. Inari isolated himself with a smirk that seemed to say "Did you expect any less?"

"I…did it." Muttered Naruto. "I DID IT!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, making sure everyone saw that he had passed.

"No one cares, you're still the _dobe_ of our class." taunted Inari with a conceited smirk.

Naruto was about to wipe the nasty smirk off the boy's face, but before he could do so, Koji stepped in front of him. "Naruto, forget about him. He's not worth your time."

"What? You passed too, Koji? Great, now we have a little mutt running around and playing ninja." added Inari with that same smirk. A couple of students laughed at what he said, but most were getting annoyed at Inari's cocky attitude.

"That's it you teme! You've gone too Frickin' far this time!" growled Koji as he cocked his right arm back, getting ready to beat Inari's head until the only color left was purple. However, a hand intercepted his arm.

"Koji, don't let him get you angered so easily." reprimanded Akako, in a quiet but firm voice. Looking to Inari, he said, "Enough is enough, Inari. Congratulations on your score, but it's time for you to leave."

"I'm free to do what I want." retorted Inari coldly.

"Not when you're pissing us off." Pachi argued.

The door to the classroom opened. "What's all this ruckus about?" questioned Iruka. Fingers pointed at Inari, although a several of the students stayed neutral.

Iruka sighed. "Inari…"

"What!? I haven't done anything! Besides, they shouldn't be congratulating themselves for passing some stupid academy exam!" yelled Inari with a strong emotional undertone.

"We're happy about passing, so sue us!" snapped Pachi.

"Inari," Iruka cut in. "Did you know that originally, you 'were going to make a score of one hundred and two?"

Inari's eyes widened ever so slightly. "Do you know why you didn't make that grade?" He shook his head as a negative. "It's because of how you treat others. As a ninja, you need to learn how to work with a team. That is one of the most important qualities of being a successful ninja."

Inari turned around and left. _"It doesn't matter. I passed. Stupid classmates. Stupid teachers. I hate them all."_ he thought angrily as he went home for the day.

Naruto watched with sad eyes. He figured Inari was bottling something deep inside his heart, making him grow bitter with age. For some reason, this resonated with Naruto. They had both been hurt. _"Inari…"_ thought the blonde as the boy from Wave exited the building.

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Honestly, the Sandaime was surprised at the number of students who had passed. It was more difficult than the past exams. Sure, the jounin instructors would more than likely fail at least a few of the teams, but still, the amount of academy students graduating this year was astonishing in comparison to past records. Even Naruto didn't completely fail the written portion of the exam. Old Sarutobi figured that the reason for his higher percentage of success on the written test was because he was behind his old teammates in the ninja world. The Hokage smirked. "Quite an interesting year. Maybe even more so than _that year_." he mused. He couldn't help but wonder what would have happened had Naruto stayed in his original time frame. Oh well. Such things were trivial now, especially when compared to the load of paperwork he had stacked on his office desk. It was time to fix the teams up a bit. After all, he was expecting more than two or three genin teams this year. These educated guesses of his usually turned out to be correct.

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Restless was a good way to describe him. He had passed his exam and, in a short while, would be placed on his genin team. Originally, he wasn't going to take the final exam. However, it seems as though both the Sandaime and Iruka felt it would be wise to make the blonde take it anyway. By taking it, he wouldn't look so suspicious. But it didn't matter. Naruto had passed. And now he waited in the academy room with his classmates. Everyone seemed to be chatting about various things, mostly about their sensei or which team they hoped to be on. A few, however, isolated themselves. One of these few was Inari. The boy from Wave was sitting in the back right corner of the room. His desk was located on the opposite end of the wall that entrance door was on. Naruto took a quick peak at the boy, but when he looked over, he received a venomous glare from the loner. Naruto quickly turned his attention back to the front of the room, hoping the tension would be cut quickly. This hope quickly turned into a reality when Iruka opened the door, entering the room to an audience of nervous, excited, and confident eyes.

"Hello everyone! I feel so privileged to having been able to teach each of you! I pray that each of you will learn to be strong, wise shinobi." said Iruka with a congratulatory smile. "It is time to part. I will now announce the new genin teams along with their respective jounin sensei. After we announce the teams, you will have break for a period of one hour. After your break, you will return here, where your jounin sensei will pick you up." Iruka looked down at a paper that was being held in between both hands. "Team Six: Ryuujin Akako, Yoshino Kaede, and Namigari Shuzo. Your jounin sensei will be Yamashiro Aoba." Iruka moved to the next team. "Team Seven: Nara Mai, Kuramoto Inari, and Inuzuka Koji. Your jounin sensei will be Shiranui Genma." Iruka smiled as he looked on to the next team. "Team Eight. Hyuuga Hanabi, Kaiuga Akio, and Uzumaki Naruto. Your jounin is currently undecided, but he or she should still be picking you up later." Iruka continued on with the other teams. Team Nine was composed of Kuyoki Nemu, Touja Koy, and Hoshiba Pachi. They would be having Suzume Namida as their jounin leader. Team Ten was to have the Odoro twins, Toki and Yuri, as well as Tanema Suki. Naruto, bored from hearing all of the names, put his head down on the desk. He was suddenly feeling a sudden rush of tiredness crawl over his body. He figured it was because he didn't get any sleep last night. As he drifted away, he heard Iruka's voice finishing up the teams. "Ban, Souko, Gado…" He fell asleep.

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Poke. Poke. Forty-five minutes ago was when Naruto had fallen asleep. Now, he was being stirred by some unpleasant pokes to his arm. Naruto lifted his head up slowly. "Eh…?" he murmured in his sleepiness as he looked up at the person poking him.

"Yo!" said a boy his age. "It looks like we're on a team Naruto!"

"Team?" repeated Naruto. Then it all came back to him. "TEAM! YIPPEE!" exclaimed the bubbly blonde as he jumped up from his seat. Naruto gave the boy another look. It was Kaiuga Akio, one of his new teammates. Akio chuckled as he observed Naruto.

"So you remember now? Good! I guess we'll be seeing each other a lot more, huh?" asked the boy.

Naruto nodded his head enthusiastically. He was satisfied with the team names. Akio was a pretty normal guy who was neither too quiet, nor too loud. "Yup. Is our jounin sensei here yet?" asked the blonde.

"Not yet. I think they'll be arriving pretty soon though. While we're waiting, let's go talk to Hanabi! She's on our team too after all!" After agreeing with the brunette, Naruto got up from his seat and walked over with his new teammate over toward where Hyuuga Hanabi was located. She sat at a desk in one of the middle rows near the window. As the boys walked over, they both waved to her in an awkward fashion. They didn't really know how to approach her since she was usually fairly quiet. Her eyes had been closed when they were approaching her, but as soon as the reached the girl, her eyes opened. "Hey Hanabi! Looks like we're on the same team." said Akio, breaking the ice.

Hanabi looked at the two boys, observing each carefully. She gave no reply. Naruto, being the crazy nut he is, decided to poke her, as Akio had done to him. Thus, the extension of the arm began. Akio admired Naruto for what he was about to do. Sure, he had the guts to poke Naruto, but Hanabi was a different story. In his head he began to chant, "_Go Naruto….you can do it! GO FOR IT!"_ The hand inched ever closer. To poke her head was the plan rolling around in his mind. Akio continued to stare wide-eyed at the task at hand.

Poke. And slap.

Naruto's left cheek was now colored red. "Leave me alone." said Hanabi coldly while glaring at Naruto. Akio, however, knew that the warning was for him as well. Grabbing Naruto by the arm, he pulled him away. Naruto, still stunned by the slap, just gawked at how rude she had been. "What the-"

"Forget about it, Naruto." said Akio. "I guess the Hyuuga clan doesn't like to associate with people outside their clan. Tch…pricks." A couple of men with forehead protectors entered the room. In response, both boys quickly sat down.

"I'm here to pick up team seven." said a man with a long toothpick in his mouth. He was Shiranui Genma.

"Team six, come with me." said another man who was wearing sunglasses, his eyes hidden from the students. His name was Yamashiro Aoba. Both teams got up and left with their respective sensei.

One more man entered the room. "Hello Iruka-sensei." said the newcomer. Iruka, who had been in the room the entire time with his paperwork, greeted the man. "Hello. Can I help you?"

The man handed Iruka a paper slip signed by the Hokage. "I am here to pick up team eight."

Iruka nodded. "Okay! Team eight! Time to go!"

Naruto, Akio, and Hanabi got out of their seats and walked down to the man. "Follow me." he instructed the three as he exited the room.

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Team eight now sat on the roof of the academy building. "Okay, let's get to know each other. I would like all of you to tell me your name, likes, dislikes, and dream. I will go first as an example. I am Yamato. I an enjoy taking walks, going to hot springs, and making scary faces. My dis-"

"Scary faces?" interrupted Naruto.

Yamato's face suddenly became pale as a ghost, while his eyes suddenly had large dark bags under them. In a creepy voice, Yamato reprimanded Naruto. "You wouldn't want to interrupt your new sensei when he was introducing himself, would you?" Team eight gulped in response. Suddenly, the scary face took a one-eighty, his expression once again a pleasant smile. "I dislike it when subordinates either don't listen to me or interrupt me." Naruto gulped a second time. "I also dislike ramen." Naruto gawked.

"_He is evil incarnate…MY ENEMY!"_ thought Naruto while narrowing his eyes at Yamato.

"My dreams, well that's for me to know." He looked at Naruto. "Okay, how about you go first."

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I love ramen, especially Ichiraku Ramen!" he said, his glare still directed at his new sensei. Yamato, hearing Naruto's words, glared back. Suddenly, the two's eyes were locked in a battle. Their glare contest was beginning to grow so intense that sparks began to flow from their eyes. "I dislike how long it takes to make ramen." The sparks only grew more intense. Akio and Hanabi were having trouble watching the fierce stare down. Finally, both competitors of the glaring contest resigned in a draw. Naruto continued. "My dream…is to become the greatest Hokage ever!" the boy exclaimed.

Yamato's eyebrows lifted ever so slightly. _"Interesting."_ he thought to himself. "Okay then! You're next." he said, pointing to Hanabi.

"I am Hyuuga Hanabi. I like to spar with my father. I dislike people who underestimate me…as well as idiots who don't know when to stay silent." Hanabi shot a glance at Naruto. Naruto turned away with a "hmph." Continuing, she said, "My dream is to become the Hyuuga Clan heiress."

"Thank you, Hanabi." said Yamato. "Your turn."

"My name is Kaiuga Akio. I like talking with friends and training. I dislike boring lectures in the academy. My dream…Well, I'm not sure right now, but I know that I at least want to become a successful ninja."

"Good! You all seem to be very interesting." replied Yamato, a finger scratching his chin. "I hope all three of you will enjoy being on this team. Any questions?" Seeing there were none, Yamato stood up. "Alright then! We're done here for today! We will be meeting again tomorrow at seven in the morning."

"EH!? Why so early, Yamato-sensei!?" exclaimed Naruto, apparently not pleased with this time.

Yamato's face went pale, while his eyes darkened, giving Naruto his famous _scary face_ that could give anyone the creeps. "Like I said, we will be meeting at seven in the morning." Naruto nodded, being overpowered by Yamato's powerful facial expression. "The place of meeting will be Training Ground Four. Be sure to come prepared with all of your ninja equipment. Any questions?"

"What will we be doing, sensei?" asked Akio.

"I will discuss tomorrow's activity when we meet in the morning." he replied, not supplying the three any useful information. "Okay then! You're all dismissed. See you in the morning!" After speaking, Yamato promptly shunshin'd away from the roof, leaving the students to themselves. Hanabi left quickly afterward, seeing that she had been left alone with the two boys. Akio, being an orphan like Naruto, did not have the bad influence of the older generations. He knew nothing of the Kyuubi, and was ignorant of the villagers' feelings for him. Although most of Konoha did not know that Naruto was the same _Kyuubi brat_ they had so diligently hated, many still gave him glares because of their similarities. Some, however, swore that the Kyuubi had come back for vengeance. Naruto was thankful that the number of villagers who felt this way were significantly fewer than in the past. He began to like the fact that he was living in another time.

Akio looked at Naruto. "Want to go eat some ramen?" he asked the blonde. Naruto just grinned.

"I'll race you there!" Naruto shouted as he ran down the stairs. Akio quickly ran after him, happy to have a charismatic teammate.

Indeed, maybe this time was better suited for the Kyuubi container.

Only time will tell.

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**Author's Notes**

Naruto has undergone training with Kakashi and has now been placed on his genin team! Also, it seems that far off, trouble is brewing!

Academy students are all the same age.

Genma – 34

Aoba – 34

Yamato – 29

Namida – 35

Mozuku – 23

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! Please review and let me know your thoughts!

Thank you for reading! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! Stay tuned in for the next chapter of _Naruto: The Sealed!_


	5. Trials, Troubles, & Mission Number Nine

Naruto: The Sealed

**Naruto: The Sealed**

By: EleosLeonhart

Chapter 5: Trials, Troubles, and Mission Number Nine

**Author's Notes**: Please review after reading the story. Reviewing helps me know my audience. Whether it be a suggestion, compliment, or critique, please let me know what you think. This story is open to any suggestions. For example, reviewer crazyfoxdemon suggested that I rewrite the beginning part of the story so that there could be a meeting between Naruto and Konohamaru early on. I ended up deciding against it for some variety, but I still thought through the idea for a while. Thanks crazyfoxdemon for that suggestion.

Also, I edited chapter one so that it's easier to read. I think reviewer Arthain will especially appreciate it. ;-)

I would also like to apologize for taking so long to update! I really can get busy sometimes. However...I _did_ manage to plan through a few arcs of this story on paper. So the plans are there...now for the writing!

**ALERT**! I am requesting a beta reader (or two)! Arthain, I thank you for helping me out with structure and grammar for a story. If you're interested let me know! If anyone else is interested, please do the same and message me!

Now...the story!

...

Yamato stood in the middle of the field. He was garbed in the traditional jounin flack jacket, black pants, and black sandals. He was looked at his three new students who were across from him. Surprisingly, Naruto had been the first to arrive at the training ground. Yamato could tell just by looking at the boy that he probably hadn't slept much, most likely due to the excitement of the though of getting one step closer to his goal.

Hanabi was the next to arrive at the scene. She came about ten minutes later. Akio was last to get to the training ground, although he was right on time. Yamato smiled at the trio.

"Good morning! Did all of you sleep well?" asked Yamato. He received a gleeful cheer from Naruto, a grimace from Akio, and nothing short of silence from Hanabi. However, Yamato could tell that although Hanabi chose not to respond, she did not enjoy getting up so early.

"Sensei! What are you going to teach us!? A powerful jutsu!?" Naruto asked eagerly. Yamato sighed. He wondered if the boy ever tired out.

"Actually, we are first going to do a little test," he answered with what the three could have sworn carried a dark undertone in his voice.

"What kind of test?" asked Akio. Yamato took out two bells from his right side jacket pocket.

"The three of you must get these bells from me before noon. Think of this as survival training," he explained.

"We've already done survival training!" objected Akio.

"Not this kind of training," responded Yamato with a smirk.

"But sensei," spoke Hanabi for the first time that morning. "There are only two bells." Yamato's smirk grew wider.

"That's right. There are two bells here, meaning…only two of you will be able to pass this exercise. If you are not able to get a bell, you will be failed and sent back to the academy!" The students gawked at their sensei.

"That's not fair!" whined Naruto. The other two students agreed, although Hanabi wasn't worried a bit.

"Well that's the life story of a shinobi," rebutted Yamato. "Also, if by some chance you can take a bell working by yourself, you will skip the rank of genin and be promoted to chuunin." Hanabi was confident in her abilities. She didn't need the other two become successful. Naruto's eyes held excitement at the prospect of getting even closer to the title of Hokage. Akio wasn't sure of what to think. He didn't feel quite ready to become a chuunin, the ninja who were often ninja team leaders and captains, although he knew that they were generally not as proficient as jounin in terms of fighting. Yamato was smiling, seeing his little plan go into effect. Encouraging them to work alone would only make this test more difficult. Kakashi was an inspiration to him while working together in the Anbu, however, he planned to make the test for his students even more difficult. "Are there any more questions?" he asked. Seeing there were none, he gave them one more piece of advice. "Come at me with the intent to kill. If you don't you _will_ fail. Begin!" At the loud call, the students quickly separated, running to the bushes and trees. They hoped to hide from their sensei in order to find a chance to hit Yamato with a sneak attack. They just had to get one of those bells that were now tied to a small loop on the low right side of his jounin jacket. Now, they all waited for the chance to perform a sneak attack. Wait, scratch that. _Almost_ all of them went into hiding.

"I challenge you!" exclaimed Naruto who was standing in the middle of the training ground. Yamato rolled his eyes.

"Are you serious?" he asked, not impressed by this bold action.

"You don't like ramen! ENEMY!" said Naruto, in response, narrowing his eyes at the older man. Yamato returned the glare. It was only a matter of seconds before the sparks started flying once again. The electricity being generated from their eyes was so intense that the entire grounds around them began to experience fierce tremors, acting as a mini-earthquake.

"So…powerful!" Akio exclaimed while attempting to shield his eyes from the bright sparks. Hanabi was forced to do the same, not wanting to be blinded by their rage. Naruto and Yamato again ended in a draw, the other two students now safe from chaos once again.

"Hmph, at least you won't have trouble coming at me with killing intent!"

After a few moments of silence, Naruto charged Yamato. Forming a familiar cross-hand seal, he yelled, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Yamato's eyes widened ever so slightly as the blonde boy had just created approximately fifteen Kage Bunshin, an A-ranked forbidden technique!

"_Interesting,"_ thought Yamato as he entered into a defensive stance. As Naruto a Naruto clone reached the Yamato, the copy threw a punch with his right arm at the jounin. Yamato dodged to the left, taking hold of the clone's arm in the process. As two more clones tried to tackle him, he spun the clone he held captive by the arm around, using the momentum of the spin to hurl his prisoner at the two other foes, causing all three to poof out of existence from the force of the impact. There were now twelve Naruto's left from what Yamato could tell. The jounin dashed toward the next rank of clones as the blonde heads charged the man. He quickly disabled them with knife hand to the neck. Only two remained after his plowing of the other ten clones. One came from in front, the other from behind. Yamato jumped into the air when they came into range and did an aerial split kick. When both clones popped out of existence, his eyebrows raised. He thought that one of them had been Naruto.

"Gotchya!" exclaimed a voice from behind. Yamato threw a backhand to Naruto's face before the blonde could even reach him. While Naruto was still in the air from the blow, Yamato hit the boy with a jump sidekick, causing the jinchuuriki to fly away until his body landed just beyond some bushes.

Akio had been watching the exchange between Naruto and their new sensei. He was surprised when he saw Naruto used a sneaky attack strategy on Yamato. However, what surprised him even more was when he saw his blonde teammate flying toward him, missing him by a mere half a meter. "Naruto!" he exclaimed, running after the boy that hit the ground. As he got near Naruto, he crouched done, asking, "Are you alright?"

"Ugh..." was the response he received when Naruto sat up, a hand holding his head as if he had a headache. "I'm okay...but I'm going to beat the crap out of him!" Naruto's voice had an undertone of anger, mostly because of Yamato's disagreement over ramen.

"Forget attaching him alone. He's of the jounin rank. He's too strong to take on by ourselves. If we team up, we will stand a chance." Naruto thought about what Akio had said for a moment.

"That's true..." admitted the blonde. "Besides, we can still work our way to chuunin. We stand a better chance at passing by working together to become genin." Akio was shocked to say the least. Did Naruto just show that he had a brain somewhere inside of that thick skull of his? Granted, he helped him take on that mindset, but it was still progress nonetheless! "But what about Hanabi?" asked the jinchuuriki.

"The Hyuuga girl? She wouldn't work with us even if we asked her to. That clan has a history of being pompous, or so my dad has told me."

"_I never got that impression from Hinata,"_ thought Naruto. "So, you want to leave Hanabi to herself?" he asked.

"Well, think of it this way: There are _two_ bells," said Akio dryly.

"Ah," murmured the blonde in response. "Then what are we waiting for!?" he almost yelled.

"Sh! We don't want to give away our location," Akio whispered in an attempt to quickly hush the boy. "We need to think of a plan. Got any ideas?" Naruto adopted an expression that could be registered as _critical thinking_.

Probably not.

...

All was silent, save for the quiet, deep breaths coming from her body. Hyuuga Hanabi was able to remain calm, even under the daunting task of going up against a high-level ninja. Activating the Byakugan, she quickly surveyed the forest grounds. After the little skirmish with the blonde loudmouth, Yamato had disappeared. _"Where is he,"_ she wondered to herself as she searched for the students' jounin sensei. Her bloodline was in no sense dull, but for reasons she could not grasp, she could not locate Yamato's position. Like Neji had once had, she had a small, nearly insignificant blind spot. There was only a one-degree blind spot at the back of her head that her bloodline could not reach. This was impressive for a newly instated genin. With more experience and training, the blind spot could possibly disappear, giving her 360-degree field vision. However, that is not the case.

Looking to her right, left, and then up into the air, she felt secure in believing he was not nearby. She should have looked below. "Ah!" she grunted, her leg now taken hold of by a strong hand erupting from the ground.

"Hello!" waved Yamato, as he popped his head out from underneath the ground. "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!" said the man as he pulled Hanabi into the ground, not allowing her time to react. Hanabi mentally cursed as she was stuck in the ground. Only her head protruded from the surface of the earth.

...

**River Country**

She was still shocked. "I thought Gin took care of that man," she muttered as she traveled with a male nearly her age.

"Gin said that Orochimaru was _dying_ when his henchman took him from the fight back in Konoha, not when he was already _dead_," he answered.

"Shou, you know that Gin is strong. Don't you remember?" she asked.

"Of course I do, but he's not stronger than you are," he answered with a blank face. Miyu smirked.

"Perhaps, but he _did_ save us nonetheless, and _I_ am a _captain_!" she replied. "I don't see how Orochimaru could live through that man's attack."

"For all we know, it could be some puppet that's been pulling the strings to force other countries not to want to take over Oto territory." He paused for a brief moment before continuing, "By the way, if we're worrying over the Sound, why are we heading toward Suna?"

"I heard a report that could be related to the jinchuuriki of the ichibi." Shou's eyes widened. "Be careful...there is a possibility that we will end up confronting Akatsuki."

"Shouldn't we have some sort of back-up for this Miyu-sama?"

"Jun and Asuka are on their way to Suna as well. We will rendezvous ten kilometers from the village's eastern gate."

...

**Oto Village Administrative Tower**

A man and woman entered the Otokage's workroom. "Sir," said the man, addressing the kage, "all seems to be progressing as planned. There have been no signs of abnormal change within the specimen."

"Excellent," said the kage of the Sound. Turning, he stared the two down. The man and woman flinched as he turned, but quickly recovered. They needed to get used to seeing their leader. "Proceed as planned. If there are any changes, let me know immediately."

"Yes, sir," replied the two. After the brief report, they left the room. After their departure, the kage's mouth widened upward on one side into a smirk. His long tongue attempted to gratify his parched anticipation by a lick of the lips. "They are all so oblivious...kukuku," he chuckled with a dark undertone. He then returned to his affairs as kage.

...

Yamato looked around. _"It seems Naruto and Akio have teamed up. Good...but they're still missing one person,"_ he thought to himself as he ran up a tree not far away from Naruto and Akio. He wanted to see their ability to think through a situation. Scratch that. He wanted to see _Akio's_ ability to strategize. Looking down, he saw them walking cautiously while speaking in whispers. Yamato frowned and hopped down the tree, opposite of the side Naruto and Akio were walking on. "Doton: Tsuchi Suiei," he muttered as he began to meld into the ground. His body now melded into the ground, he moved under the earth's surface in hopes of catching ear of their conversation. After drawing near, Yamato poked his head out of the surface of the ground, following the two boys closely.

"And that's the plan," said Akio.

"I get it!" replied Naruto. If Yamato could have face planted, he would have. Unfortunately, his head was the only part of his body sticking out of the ground, canceling the effect of the combination of stunning confusion and gravity. He mentally cursed, but decided to follow them in this manner anyway. It was a technique he created, and simply put, he enjoyed using it.

After a few minutes, Naruto spotted something in the distance. "Hey, Akio! What's that?" he asked his teammate.

"What? Where?" he replied, not seeing what Naruto was pointing at. However, when he followed the finger and squinted his eyes, he could make out a little, black egg shape in the ground nearly twenty meters away. At first, they couldn't see what it was, but when they cut the distance between them and the object, their faces went pale. "N-Noooo!" screamed Naruto. "Hanabi! Yamato-sensei killed her!"

"The only thing left is her head," said Akio as his stomach turned.

"Akio," said Naruto, trying to stifle his tears, "what should we do?" Hanabi, who was merely stuck in the ground, rolled her eyes. She now knew she was stuck with complete idiots.

"We should bury her head...it's the least we could do for her," replied Akio to Naruto in all seriousness. Naruto nodded. Hanabi turned her head in a snappy motion, catching both boys off guard.

"If either of you touch me, you're _dead_," she said angrily. Both boys stared at Hanabi for about five minutes straight, until...

"A talking head!" they screamed, nearly fainting from shock.

"No, you idiots! I'm stuck in the ground!" she yelled back at them. They stared at her for an additional minute until they finally cracked, rolling on the ground and bursting out in laughter.

"Help me out NOW!" she demanded. After finishing their fun, they went over to Hanabi and began to dig her out of the ground. After a few minutes of digging, she was out. She had pondered on how to kill the two boys, the Gentle Fist Style seeming like a good choice, but she let them go for getting her out of the ground.

"So, ugh, how did you get stuck in the ground?" questioned Naruto. Akio tried to hold back a laugh.

"Shut it!" she commanded angrily. "He's strong, okay!?"

"Okay, okay! Sorry," replied Naruto. "So..."

"What?" she responded quickly with venom. Naruto just sighed in response.

"Do you want to work with us to get him back?" he asked her.

"But...there are only two bells," she replied, failing to see how teamwork would work between the three of them. "And I'm pretty sure that you guys would just keep the bells for yourselves..."

"Actually...I've been thinking," replied Akio. "It doesn't make sense to try and snatch bells from a _jounin_, while we are just _rookie genin_." Hanabi already knew that, but just then, it clicked for her.

"The test is rigged..." she muttered. The eyes of both boys widened.

"What do you mean?" asked Akio. "I was just saying that since we don't stand a chance unless we work as a team."

"Exactly," she confirmed, "however, I think there's more to it than just that. It seems like that _that_ is the purpose of this entire test; to work as a team!" All she did was draw confused glances from the boys. "Look, we were already set up against a jounin, whom I'm sure could handle ten genin with a fair amount of ease." The boys nodded in understanding, so she continued. "Furthermore, there are only two bells. If we can't get the bells because of the difference in skill, then what is the purpose of this exam?" Naruto still shrugged his shoulders, but Akio made a short gasp, now beginning to comprehend the situation. "The purpose of this is exam...is teamwork. It all makes sense, and the fact that there are only two bells ties this theory up in a solid knot."

"Not bad," said Akio. "I'm surprised a Hyuuga spoke that much in such a short amount of time!" he said with a humored undertone.

"Shut it," Hanabi growled back at the boy.

"Naruto, what do you think?" asked Akio. Naruto had his hand under his chin, seemingly deep in thought. He had been nodding his head and squinting his eyes after Hanabi's informative speech clicked with Akio.

"I definitely...don't get it," he answered, making his two teammates face-fault onto the ground.

Meanwhile, Yamato had been listening from behind a rock, his head still the only part of his body sticking out of the ground. He was proud of his students, although he wished that Naruto were a bit brighter.

"Let's make a plan," said Hanabi.

"No need...I've constructed one with Naruto," replied Akio. Hanabi squinted her eyes, failing to see how Naruto could have been a part of it.

"With that idiot?" she questioned.

"Hey! I'm not an idiot!" barked Naruto, pointing an accusing finger at the Hyuuga girl.

"Well, he more agreed with me on the plan, but it doesn't matter," he admitted. "Anyway, the plan was originally to find you and make good use of your Byakugan. We will then have Naruto use that technique he used earlier to produce solid clones. Naruto will just bombard him with his clones while you and I go in for the kill. You know what to look for, so we should try to double team him his bells while he fends off Naruto's force."

"I don't think that will work," she said in reply.

"Why not? What can we do that's better?" he asked. "I'm sure he's out there...he might even be close. We don't have the time to think up an elaborate plan. I think him underestimating out teamwork is our best offense. So far, he's only dealt with us one at a time, correct?"

"Fine, but don't get your hopes up," she responded with a pessimistic view of the situation. "Just remember to go in with the intent to kill. He _is_ a professional after all..."

"That's right...I _am_ a professional..." said Yamato. All three jumped into a fighting stance upon hearing his voice.

"Where is he!?" murmured Akio, his body filled with a rush of adrenaline. Hanabi performed some hand seals.

"Byakugan!" she murmured as she looked around. "Look out! He's below!"

"Too late!" exclaimed Yamato as he resurfaced from the terrain, shoving both Naruto and Akio away from his position. "It's time to take care of you kids. After all, I'm getting hungry!" he said, patting his stomach softly.

"Naruto, go!" said Akio to the blonde. Naruto nodded.

"Kage Bunshin!" muttered Naruto as fifty blonde heads littered the area. Hanabi's and Akio's eyes bulged out. They both were wondering how he could create so many solid clones. Little did they know that this was certainly not the maximum amount of clones he could create. Yamato's response was a quirked eyebrow.

"_He created four times as many clones as last time...I wonder how far Naruto can go,"_ thought Yamato as he entered into a fighting stance. "I won't let you kids become ninja. You are not worthy to become the protectors of Konoha. I think that you should all quit while you're ahead."

Naruto's eyes became stone cold.

"This is such a waste of time."

"Shut up..." said the blonde in a hush.

"I can't believe they gave me such a weak bunch."

"Shut up," said Naruto, his voice louder than before, his teammates now able to hear him, as well as Yamato. The latter smirked.

"I don't think anyone here is even Hokage material."

"Shut up!" yelled Naruto. "I _will_ be the strongest ninja ever! I _will_ be the Hokage! I will _definitely_ force-feed you ramen!" Yamato sweatdropped. There was no way he'd agree to that, even if Naruto became Hokage.

_Pulse..._

Yamato's eyes widened as he began to look around, alarmed by a chill running down his spine. "_What was that!?"_ Akio and Hanabi also felt it, the two frantically searching for the cause of the feeling.

_Pulse..._

There it was again. Yamato fixed his eyes on Naruto. "What on..." he muttered. What he set his eyes on astounded him. Visible chakra was forming around Naruto's entire body. _"This chakra isn't even demonic, yet it's of this caliber? How on earth could Naruto possess this amount of chakra?"_ Naruto readied himself to charge, along with his clones and his teammates. However, Yamato held up his hand. "Congratulations, you guys pass!"

Bewilderment struck through their faces. Although Hanabi, and later Akio, figured that the test was on teamwork, they were still in shock of the vibe they felt from Naruto. With the news of their passing, Akio and Hanabi sighed. Naruto just stared at Yamato with a blank, confused expression.

"_I can't believe this kid's potential...I should ask the Sandaime about this,"_ thought Yamato. And indeed, he would. "I am proud to be your jounin sensei. You have all passed. As you guessed, this exam tests your teamwork and willingness to cooperate on the battlefield. Don't you dare ever abandon your teammates." He paused before continuing. "You have proven yourselves worthy. I see much talent and potential in each of you. The rest of the day and tomorrow are free. Go home and get some rest. We will meet here again at seven in the morning, the day after tomorrow." With that, Yamato left the area in a whirl of leaves.

Naruto's clones puffed out of existence. After a few minutes, Naruto commented, "Oh! I get it!" His teammates face faulted.

...

His eyes opened to a new day. The alarm clock was still ringing, waking him from his slumber. Naruto reached over to the noisy box, pressing a button to cease the irritating sound coming from it. Naruto looked at his alarm.

5:45 A.M.

Naruto got up. He needed to meet with Hatake Kakashi at 6:30 for training. The silver-haired jounin was asked to continue working with the boy by the Sandaime Hokage. However, Kakashi was planning on helping the boy along anyway. After Naruto's disappearance, Jiraiya, one of the three legendary sannin taught by the Sandaime, had told Kakashi that the boy was the son of Kakashi's sensei; the legacy of the Yondaime Hokage. Kakashi, at the very least, was shocked. He found joy in being able to teach the boy. Yamato, a man who admired Kakashi from their days in the Anbu, reported to Kakashi about the boy's potential. According to the wood user, the blonde boy seemed to possess an untapped potential that might some day rival a kage. Blood limit or not, the boy's growth would not be hindered if trained properly. This, they mutually agreed on.

"Time to get up," groaned a tired Naruto as he shuffled out of his covers onto his apartment floor. He proceeded toward the bathroom, readying himself for a shower to help along the awakening process. After he prepared everything, he hopped into the shower. It was nice and warm...that is, until a person living in the floor above him flushed the toilet. The result was icy cold water pouring down on Naruto. The boy loudly cursed non-ninja early risers.

...

After Naruto's rude awakening, he headed over to the training grounds. After getting to training ground nineteen, Kakashi told Naruto to go through his routine warm-ups: stretching, one hundred push-ups, one-hundred sit-ups, and a twenty minute run. Nothing ridiculous, unlike the warm-ups of two ninja whose heads resembled bowls, but again, these were just the warm-ups intended to get Naruto ready for training. After returning from the jog, Naruto stood in front of Kakashi. "Now that you have finished with your warm-ups, it's time to resume your training," said Kakashi, staring at the boy. Naruto gave a small cry of joy in response. "Naruto," continued the jounin, "Yamato said you didn't fight like how I taught you...why is that?"

"I was angry," replied the blonde, looking for the right words to say.

"Angry?" Kakashi reiterated, "About what?"

"He..." Naruto paused, but continued onward with conviction. "He doesn't like ramen!" he exclaimed. A drop of sweat rolled down the side of Kakashi's head.

"That's it?" Naruto thought it over for a moment.

"Mhm." Another drop of sweat on the other side of Kakashi's head. A small silence ensued. Why did his sensei's song have to be such a buffoon?

'_They say the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree,"_ the jounin thought to himself, _"...sounds about right."_ Regaining his composure, Kakashi looked up at the blue sky. "I gave you a little break on account of being added to a genin team. And now, it's crunch time."

"Crunch time?" asked the boy, not missing the fact that the phrase sounded unbelievably...cool. Well, that's what he thought anyway.

"It's time to teach you a new technique," answered the former Anbu captain. Naruto's eyes became bright with enthusiasm. A loud yelp of joy followed soon after.

...

**Hokage Tower**

A certain pineapple-hair-shaped ninja was at the door to the Hokage's office. He was a young man and, judging by his flack jacket, was of jounin ranking. He was accompanied by another young man with long, shaggy hair and a slightly protruding, though muscular, stomach. The first knocked on the door to the kage's office. "Come in," said the Sandaime from behind closed doors. The two men entered the room. "Shikamaru, Chouji," greeted the Hokage as he looked up from his desk, "what can I do for you? Shikamaru closed the door.

"Hokage-sama," started Shikamaru, "something needs to be addressed." Sarutobi raised an eyebrow.

"What is this matter about?" the older man asked, half-expecting what this little meeting would be about.

"Uzumaki Naruto," answered Shikamaru. Bingo. Sarutobi was right on the mark. It seems old age did not change his wisdom as a leader.

"What about him, Shikamaru?" questioned the Hokage.

"Is it just me, or is there a newly made genin who looks like a clone of Naruto?" Sarutobi took a moment to think about what he could say. Should he let Shikamaru and Chouji know the truth? On the one hand, he could make a story up. However, he was nearly certain Shikamaru would catch his bluff. On the other hand, he could tell the boys the truth. The only problem with that was that the truth, in this case, was of a classified nature. Sarutobi knew Naruto wouldn't like about his identity. No, quite the opposite...he would most likely scream about his dream to become the Hokage. Shikamaru, Chouji, and the rest of Konoha would discover his identity sooner or later anyway. Perhaps by telling them the truth now, he could enlist their help in keeping the matter secret for as long as possible.

"Sit down," said the Hokage, gesturing toward two of the three chairs in front of his desk. The young men complied, sitting down in the comfortable chairs. "What I'm about to tell you is classified information..." Sarutobi paused. The way he was just going to tell them the truth didn't make it any of this seem classified. He continued, "However, due to the fact that this matter will be difficult to keep secret, I will tell you. That boy you spotted...he _is_ Naruto." The eyes of Shikamaru and Chouji widened.

"Hokage-sama," Chouji spoke up, "I don't understand. Naruto should be our age!" Shikamaru observed the Hokage for an hesitant gestures. It appeared that the old man was telling the truth, but then again, looks could be deceiving.

"It's true, Chouji," replied Sarutobi. "Naruto was actually found by my grandson and team Ebisu. They were heading back from border patrol, but were bombarded by some Oto nin. Konohamaru was cornered, being faced up against someone stronger than himself. But something strange happened. My grandson described that a tree he was back up against began to illuminate. He told me how he watched as a blonde boy around his age came out of the tree, as if he had been fused together with it." Shikamaru and Chouji were staring at the old man in disbelief. "The boy defeated the injured Oto ninja by using a technique associated with Uzumaki Naruto: _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_." Two pairs of eyebrows went up. Both young men were wondering how a forbidden technique was _associated_ with Naruto. "Later on, both my grandson and the blonde boy were recovered by an Anbu unit. Soon after, the blonde kid was brought to Morino Ibiki for interrogation." Both Shikamaru and Chouji shuddered at the name. "After going through interrogation, the boy was brought to me. I examined the boy both psychologically and medically. His blood matches the old samples. That boy _is_ Naruto." The two young jounin absorbed what they had heard. Too much was left unexplained. Shikamaru raised his voice once again.

"And what about his age? He looks the same as when we were classmates."

"I believe Naruto was sealed inside of the tree my grandson spoke up. We investigated the site, as well as the large tree. There were large traces of chakra on the tree. One of our ninja who specializes in seals also looked over the tree. He confirmed by suspicions. A powerful sealing is the only explanation we have. Now, the real question is: What kind of person has the ability to seal to _that_ degree." The Sandaime had a small flashback of golden eyes. He remembered his fight with Orochimaru. _'Maybe him...'_

"What's going on...?" Chouji asked, the question rhetorical in nature. Shikamaru shook his head, unable to think of an answer for once. The small silence was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" questioned the Hokage.

"Yamato," replied the jounin from behind the kage's office double-doors.

"Come in." Yamato entered the room, noticing that Shikamaru and Chouji were also in the room.

"Am I interrupting something?" asked the newly appointed genin sensei.

"No, actually...the matter involves you."

"Me, sir?"

"Well, it actually involves one of your students. I think you know which one." Shikamaru's and Chouji's ears perked up at hearing that Naruto's sensei was now in the room with them.

"Naruto?" asked Yamato.

"Correct." Yamato's eyes focused on the ground for a moment, his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"Hokage-sama...I have also come to speak with you about a matter concerning my student."

"What is it?" asked the Hokage. Yamato hesitated, looking at the other two men in the room. He didn't seem to want them in the room at this time.

"It's okay Yamato. You may speak freely about all Naruto's _recent_ activities." Yamato understood that the "recent" part of what the Hokage said was to make sure that Yamato didn't say anything about Naruto being a jinchuuriki. However, he doubted that that would stay in the dark for long.

"Sir, yesterday I gave my genin team the bell test. As you already know, they passed. However..."

"However?" repeated the Sandaime, noticing that Yamato's voice sounded hesitant.

"Something strange happened during the end of the test; something I didn't mention in the report." The Sandaime quirked an eyebrow. "Naruto...I'm not sure what happened to him over these last five years, but I've never seen _anyone_ with such a high caliber of chakra at his age."

"Well, he _has _been training with Kakashi," said Sarutobi in response.

"For a month," said Yamato, failing to believe that anyone could accomplish so much in such a short amount of time. "But what I saw was ridiculous. Visible chakra was appearing _all around_ Naruto's body. It was enough to send a chill down my spine. And it was all _Naruto's_ chakra." Sandaime caught the meaning behind the words of that last phrase. Yamato had meant that none of the chakra he had seen was borrowed from the Kyuubi.

"Wait," Shikamaru spoke up, "what did you mean by saying the chakra belonged to 'Naruto?' Isn't that obvious?" The Sandaime sighed. This was going to be a long day.

...

Noon. Team Yamato now gathered at the Hokage Tower. Naruto was the last to show up of the team, mostly due to the fact that he was pretty exhausted from his early morning training. However, it was worth it. He had learned a new jutsu. There was some trouble in the learning process due to his overwhelmingly large supply of chakra, but he was able to get the basics down by the time he had to leave for his team meet. The team now stood before the Sandaime Hokage, ready to receive their first mission. The old man smiled at the four in front of him. He considered each of them his precious people, for _Konoha was_ his precious people.

"It's good to see each of you," said the Sandaime cheerfully, "and I'm so proud of you for passing all the requirements to become genin. You are now ready to perform missions!"

"Woohoo!" exclaimed a certain blonde, suddenly feeling rejuvenated by a rush of adrenaline as he daydreamed about beating enemy ninja up and being named the Godaime Hokage. "Bwahahahah!"

"What's he laughing about?" asked Hanabi to Yamato. A drop of sweat rolled down the side of Yamato's head.

"I'm not sure I want to know," replied the sensei. Akio chuckled at the scene.

"Ahem," interrupted the kage of the leaf, "so let's see...what mission should I give to your team?" he asked rhetorically.

"Oh! Oh! Give us a top secret mission with lots of action!" Naruto nearly screamed. Yamato smirked, his lips curling menacingly. The jounin knew what was coming. All new genin were always victimized by the missions they were given. He chuckled evilly.

"Here we are! You are to pull weeds at Onowaku-san's farm. He owns a plantation on the Northwestern end of the village."

"Pull..." muttered Naruto.

"...weeds," finished Hanabi. Sarutobi's smile widened.

Screams followed shortly after which most of the village heard.

...

Two weeks passed, and so far, team Yamato had been given eight D-ranked missions. Weed pulling, cat chasing, picking up litter, running errands for local shops; a nightmare for the young genin team. They had just finished their eight D-ranked mission about an hour ago and were turning in their report. The mission detailed that they baby-sit a group of youngsters at an orphanage. Ironically, it was the same orphanage that Naruto had grown up in when he was a small child. Chills ran down his neck as the memories of his experiences resurfaced. He didn't like the orphanage...not one bit.

The team had also received some training fro Yamato during this time, that is, when they were not performing missions of manual labor. So far, Yamato had gone over the tree-walking exercise, as well as how to set effective traps, most of which involving ninja wire, pitfalls, and bladed objects, such as kunai and shuriken. Hanabi had exceptional chakra control and quickly got the hang of it, whereas Akio had a bit of difficulty with the exercise. He eventually got it down just before their seventh mission was given to them. It was record timing, but it was a decent for a new genin. When Hanabi and Akio saw that Naruto could already climbed trees, they were fairly surprised. Hanabi was angered by the fact that he could do anything better than her, even though she was able to figure the process about much quicker than Naruto had.

"Reporting, Hokage-sama," said Yamato as he handed over the mission report.

"How did it go?" asked the Sandaime.

"It was a success. The kids at the orphanage enjoyed having our team over," replied the team's sensei.

"That's good to hear," said the old man with a warm smile. However, the genin of team Yamato weren't smiling. Not one bit.

"Listen old man," yelled Naruto, "I'm tired of these boring missions! Give us something exciting to do! This is obviously a waste of time for a great ninja such as myself!"

"I kind of agree," said Akio sheepishly. Hanabi couldn't help but nod to show her support for the objection.

"That's enough!" scolded Yamato.

"That's quite alright, Yamato," Sarutobi told the man, a lighthearted chuckle following his words. "Maybe it is about time that you stopped performing D-ranked missions..." Naruto's eyes brightened, as did his teammates'. "Tell you what, I will allow your team to do a C-rank mission." Yamato sighed as Sarutobi continued, "Your team's objective will be to protect the artist Orikodo from gangs of bandits and thieves. He will be traveling to Otafuku Gai to put his work on display. However, due to the popularity of his merchandise, bandits have attempted to take his work from him. He has reported that he has lost three one major and two minor works of art as a result. If you engage the enemy, you are to protect Orikodo. Your mission does not end until he arrives safely and is able to put his work on display."

"Any questions?" Naruto had stars in his eyes at the thought of fighting with bandits. The Sandaime chuckled once more. "I guess not. You will leave tomorrow at 9:00 in the morning. You will be meeting Orikodo-san at the front gates. Otafuku Gai is less than fifteen kilometers away from Konoha, so if everything goes well, you should be able to return before the day is over. That is all." The team smirked on account of the mission they were given.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," responded Yamato as he and his team left the room.

...

Naruto closed his eyes. Tomorrow would be a long day so he needed his rest. If only he weren't so excited. "Tomorrow...a _real_ mission!"

...

**Author's Notes**

Naruto has learned a new technique (and yes, I didn't show it...on purpose! Muahahah), team Yamato is getting ready to set out on their first C-ranked mission, and troublesome events are developing beyond Konoha's borders!

Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu – Double Suicide Decapitation Technique

Doton: Tsuchi Suiei – Earth Style: Earth/Ground Swimming (mine)

Otafuku Gai – Homely Woman Town (the town Naruto and Jiraiya first stopped in on their way to find Tsunade)

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! The same goes for giving suggestions. Please review and let me know your thoughts!

Thank you for reading! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! Stay tuned in for the next chapter of _Naruto: The Sealed!_


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